The Ashla Spectrum
by DuchessKenobi
Summary: Force sensitivity is a spectrum. Story takes Royal Academy Cadets Soniee and Korkie from Clone Wars season 4-6 from Mandalore to Coruscant. Soniee learns to control her force sensitivity with the help of friends Bo-Katan, Barris Offee, Lux Bonteri, Commander Fox & the interference of the dark side. COMMENTS would be Ori Kandosii!
1. shared secrets

She really didn't mind that she was one of the few students of the Royal Academy of Government who didn't go home for the holidays. Soniee loved how quiet the place was and how she could just sit at her desk and tinker with the datapad she was currently rebuilding. Wires and circuits and hardware were spread across the surface and she immersed herself in them. No other distractions, just the tangy smell of the solder and the satisfaction of fitting each tiny piece in its proper place.

Well almost no distractions. Soniee had to stop herself from calling out to him before he knocked. She sighed put down her tools and waited for the soft rap of knuckles on durasteel.

"It's open, Korkie. Come on in." She didn't tell him that she had sensed that he was on his way down the hall before she had even heard his footsteps. The lack of other cadets and instructors in the building made his presence easier to feel but the Duchess's nephew had always seemed to resonate stronger in her awareness than anyone else at the academy.

She had never really told anyone about her hyper-sensitivity. By the time she was old enough to realize that not everyone could read another individual's emotions from a room away, she'd known it wasn't polite to pry. Her friends knew she occasionally got headaches when a room got too loud. They didn't know that she sometimes just pulled her blank, display visor down over her eyes to block out the excess stimulation.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Everyone else is on holiday." She invented, which was technically true. Soniee kept her eyes on her work, as Korkie entered and crossed the room, curious to see what she was working on this time.

"How was tea with the Duchess?" she asked him.

He picked up a tiny plasma injector and inspected it. "Insightful." He started to place the piece back on the desk but Soniee took it from his hand and moved it to a spot a safer distance from her soldering iron.

"She just got back from Coruscant, didn't she? Was it a nice trip?" The girl always found it easier to talk when her hands were busy. She tended to be shy in conversation with most people, especially boys. But Korkie was different. He had been her first friend at the Academy. They were both orphans taken in by the clans and she had always felt a connection to him because of it.

"She..." he paused and for the first time since he entered the room she felt a wave of sadness from her friend.

Soniee stopped what she was doing and turned to give him her full attention.

"She went to attend a funeral."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please give her my condolences the next time you see her. Was it someone we knew?"

"I never got the chance. It was the Jedi, Kenobi."

Something clenched in Soniee's chest. She had never met the man either, but she had always been curious about the Jedi given her own abilities. She had been wary of the fabled knights as a child, wondering if they'd come and snatch her away and take her to their temple if they found out what she could do. But after meeting Padawan Tano she had a greater respect for the Order.

Soniee looked up at her friend. "What is it, Korkie? What do you need my help with?"

His smile held a measure of awe at her sudden intuition. "I ... would like your help with something."

She looked back down at her disembowelled datapad, embarrassed by his expression, and waited for him to continue.

Korkie began to pace and she chanced a glance back up at him. "The Duchess told me something just now, something about her past." One of his hands that had been clasped behind his back went to stroke his chin. He stopped walking and gave Soniee another winning smile. "I want to check the old holorecordings and see if I can find proof."

Ah, technology! This Soniee could do! She brightened and began to search for a device that was in a less dissected state and could bring up the information he wanted. "How old are we talking here?" She found the holonotebook she was looking for and began typing something into it while she carried it over to the couch where they could sit next to each other and both see the results.

Korkie followed. "The first year of her reign, from when she arrived in Sundari after her exile."

"Alright..." Soniee keyed in a few more search parameters and then turned the screen so they could both see. He grinned that she had found it so quickly. "This would be the footage from when she first arrived back..." There was no sound on the vid. They watched as Satine descended the ramp of a small shuttle.

"She looks so young and sad," Korkie remarked.

"Who's that behind her?" Soniee paused the frame and pointed to the figure who exited the shuttle after the young Duchess. "It looked like you for a moment." She glanced up at the boy next to her who was staring intently at the screen.

"I think that's Kenobi." Korkie smiled.

She looked at the image again. "The same Kenobi who's funeral she just attended?"

"Yes. He was one of the Jedi who protected her during the Civil War." Korkie seemed thrilled with their discovery.

Soniee, on the other hand, studied the young Jedi. There was something about the way his eyes followed the duchess. Soniee wondered if a boy would ever look at her like that and, "He looks... heartbroken. They must have been very close." She looked up again and this time Korkie held her gaze intently for a few seconds. She broke the link first with a sigh and began keying in data again. "What next?" she asked knowing their search wasn't over.

"Well... that's just it. What happened to her next? Are there stills, vids of where she went and what she did that first year?"

"Holy stars are there ever?" Soniee showed him the search results. "Looks like your aunt was just about the hottest thing on the net for a while."

Korkie grinned. "Let's start at the beginning, shall we?"

Soniee nodded and tapped the first results.

"Is that supposed to be her in the hood?"

"I don't know." She scrolled forward through the images of the cloaked girl with the academy cadet until they came to a still of the young duchess, hood now dropped back to her shoulders, kissing the cadet.

Korkie scowled. "I guess it didn't take her long to get over, Obi-wan."

"We don't know that for sure." Soniee tried to console him. She wasn't sure why he was reacting so harshly but she supposed he had always been protective of his aunt. "Let's see what else there is." She scrolled down through stills of the dedication of Peace Park and then came to something else interesting. "Look this is the first ever Royal Academy graduation ceremony." Soniee pulled up another silent vid.

"What's that she's wearing?" Korkie laughed at the ostentatious feathered headgear the young duchess had on for the occasion. His laughter made Soniee smile but all too soon it was wiped away with another frown. "That's the same cadet from before." He pointed at the last graduate who crossed the stage, gave the duchess a flower, sat next to her, and held her hand.

"He looks familiar." She paused vid and tried to remember where she had seen that cadet's face before. It came to her in the same moment that Korkie blurted it out.

"That's Ex-Governor Viszla!"

"The leader of the Deathwatch. They were friends once." It made Soniee sad to think of the betrayal that the duchess had endured but Korkie seemed to take it as a personal insult.

"They were more than friends." He had let the vid continue and they watched as Viszla leaned over to give Satine a kiss on the cheek.

Korkie only seemed to grow more sullen as they looked through more vids and stills of the duchess at the opera or attending state dinners. Pre Viszla was almost always at her side, holding her hand, kissing her.

Soniee vaguely remembered something that the duchess had said in one of her speeches that they'd had to learn early in their Academy lessons. "Maybe it was just an act. Maybe she didn't want everyone to know who she really had feelings for."

"Hmmm." Korkie sounded unconvinced. And no wonder because the next batch of stills they came across certainly didn't look like an act.

Viszla was standing behind the duchess on a balcony. She was wearing a beautiful navy blue gown that left her arms and shoulders bare. Her eyes were closed and he was kissing her neck and her shoulder. The moment captured in the still was so intimate Soniee almost wanted to look away. But then Korkie pointed at the screen. "There!"

"What is it?" Soniee asked uncomfortably. She felt like she was intruding on the couple, invading their privacy. As she studied the image however she thought she saw what Korkie meant.

Viszla had placed his hands on the duchess's waist and the fabric of her dress was pulled tighter across her belly, her round, swollen belly. Soniee's eyes widened in shock. She glanced up at Korkie who was grinning again and then back at the image. "She was pregnant."

"These stills." Korkie's voice held a note of triumph as if he'd finally found the proof he was looking for. "Were taken about a month before I was born."

Soniee didn't know what to say. She and Korkie had always shared their status as orphans. It had always been a connection between them. "She's your mother." She wanted to be happy for him.

"She finally admitted it when I met her for tea today." He took one of Soniee's hands in both of his. "But you can't tell anyone."

She looked at her hand in his and then at his face and then blankly at the holoscreen. "Of course I won't tell anyone. I'm so glad you got your answer at last."

He seemed to notice her discomfort and let go of her hand. "Thanks, Soniee."

"So then..." she took a quick intake of breath and tried to regain the thread of conversation. "You don't think that Viszla..."

"No. Never." he interrupted her and advanced the image on the holo screen to the next still. The duchess had spun away from the man on the balcony with a look of fright in her eyes. "See she didn't want him to find out. I think you're right. She was acting."

"It was all a ruse to draw attention away from the fact that... you were on the way." Soniee smiled. "But then that means..." Her fingers flew over the holonotebook's keypad to return them to the first vid they had watched. Satine descended the shuttle's ramp, Kenobi's sad eyes watched her go, and then just before she was led away by her retainers she looked back at him. "Your father was a Jedi."

Korkie nodded at her. He was smiling but now he looked sad and Soniee was sure she knew why. "But you never met him and now he's gone. I'm so sorry, Korkie."

He stood, took a few steps and then turned back to face her again. "You know it's strange. I always assumed my father had died before I was born, never considered the idea of knowing who he was or meeting him. But now that I know, I do... miss him."

She understood a little of what he was feeling. She would never know her father either. Her own mother had died in a freighter crash shortly after giving birth to her with no clue of who she was or her history other than that the flight had originated on Onderon.

Soniee stood, put down the holonotebook and hugged her friend. He hugged her back for a full minute before they both started to feel awkward and he broke away clearing his throat. "So, umm, we can keep this just between us right?" Korkie asked.

"Of course." She smiled, blushing slightly. She wondered about so many things in that moment. Like why he had never exhibited any Jedi powers? And was this why her connection to him seemed so much stronger than her connection to anyone else? But she wasn't prepared to ask those questions just yet. Instead she said, "Korkie, I know your secret now. Can I... can I show you something?"

He was intrigued. "Of course."

She glanced at a bowl of fruit on the table, bringing his attention to it. Then after a deep breath she raised her hand toward the bowl and closed her eyes. Slowly a green pome rose from the dish and gracefully glided toward her. She turned her hand palm up and the fruit rested there silently.

"Soniee, you don't mean you're a..."

"I'm not a Jedi," she whispered, passing the fruit from hand to hand, staring at it so she didn't have to look him in the eye. "Sensitive to the force is what they would call it, I guess. I've never shown anyone else."

"Don't you want to be trained to use it? I've never had any powers like that but if I did..."

"I didn't want them to take me away from Mandalore, away from home."

She could sense that he knew what she meant. They had both grown up as orphans (whether that was true or not) but Mandalore with all its history and traditions had adopted them and taken them in.

Korkie smiled at her and gave her a conspiratorial wink. "I won't tell a soul."


	2. Mother Onderon, Mother Mandalore

total change of pace. i don't usually write action-y battle sequences so i hope this comes out all right. This is the story of two mothers. also i'm just beginning to dabble in Mando'a so go easy on me if it's not perfect.

* * *

Veeka pulled back a bit on the throttle just enough to get the fighter lined up in her sights. Her enemy had been leading her on a merry dance but there was no way he could escape her now.

"This is for Clan Ordo, Lok Scum!" And along with her weapons she let loose with a stream of curses in Mando'a and Basic.

Then the unthinkable happened. As she watched the blazing missiles streaking toward their intended target, a small freighter suddenly materialized out of hyperspace directly between Veeka and her enemy. Along with it came a voice screaming over the open comm channel. "Someone help! Please! The baby's coming and I..." another scream and then the channel went to static as Veeka's torpedoes slammed into the side of the innocent vessel.

"No!" Veeka yelled.

A second later and the freighter rocked back toward her, obviously taking fire that her enemy had meant for her. She had to bank sharply to avoid collision but when she cleared the vessel she saw that at least one of her marks had hit the intended target. The Clan Lok fighter spun toward Concord Dawn, hit the atmosphere at too steep an angle, and began to burn up as it tumbled toward the planet.

Veeka turned her attention toward the freighter. It was pretty badly beat up. The make was from Onderon she was fairly sure and it must have had some kind of minimal shielding or it would have been blasted to bits with her first volley. It was going to need to pull up and quick, however, or it was going to go the same way as the enemy fighter.

She tried to hail the pilot on the open channel. "Onderon Freighter, do you copy!"

There was static again and then, Veeka wasn't sure at first, she thought she heard a baby cry. A mechanical female voice, a med droid maybe said, "It is a girl, Mistress." Then there was more static.

Veeka was amazed, a baby born here in the middle of a fire fight. She tried to hail them again. "Freighter, you need to pull up or you're going to hit the atmosphere hot!"

"Yes, I..." an exhausted female voice came through the static. "J3 secure her for a bumpy landing."

"Yes, Mistress." That was the droid's voice again with the baby still crying.

"I'm just going to..." The freighter pilot grunted with the effort and then Veeka thankfully saw the vessel level out a bit in its approach to the planet. It was still going down but at least it wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere.

"Good job, Freighter." Veeka told the other female pilot. "Sounds like congratulations are in order."

"Yes," came the tired voice. "Went into labor in hyperspace. Dropped out to try to get... some... help..."

It sounded like she was going to pass out. "Stay with me!" Veeka yelled through the comm at her trying to keep her awake.

"I'm, here..."

"Good, good." Veeka angled her fighter to stay as close to the freigher's wing as she could safely manage. "And I'm right there with you. The droid said you had a girl."

"Yes." the freighter pilot's voice brightened a bit. "Never considered any boy names. Had the name Soniee picked out since I... found out..."

Veeka could tell she was fading again and worried as the nose of the freighter dipped into a slightly deeper dive. "Soniee!" She said a little louder trying to keep the other woman's attention. "That's a beautiful name! I've always wanted to have children, so far, no luck." Maybe that's why Veeka was striving so hard to save the freighter, that and the tremendous amount of guilt she felt that it was her fire that was brining down it down.

The woman lapsed into a language that Veeka didn't understand. She guessed it was whatever they spoke on Onderon. At least she was talking. Then the words naturally began to flow into a tune. It was some kind of lullaby but that too began to fade.

"Stay with me!" Veeka nearly growled into the comm link. She was on the verge of tears and if she started crying her flight goggles were going to start fogging up. Definitely not a good thing with the ground rushing up to meet the two vessels.

There was a string of words in that unknown language that ended with, "...Soniee." and then with a last effort, "Take care of my Soniee..."

The freighter skimmed the top of a section of forest canopy that did little to slow it down and then it slammed into the rise of a hillside where the trees cleared. Veeka had to pull up quickly not to meet the same fate. She swore and circled around trying to find a place to land so she could search the wreckage for survivors. If there were any. She couldn't see how anyone could make it out of that alive.

Almost before her fighter was completely on the ground, Veeka began to rip off her belts and helmet and goggles. She threw open the hatch, jumped to the forest floor, and ran for the freighter. Tears ran down her cheeks unchecked when she saw the wreckage close up. The front end, the cockpit, was completely crushed against the hillside. She fell to her knees.

Veeka didn't know how long she stayed like that, mourning the pilot who's name she didn't even know. It was so quiet after the noise of the wreck and eventually the sounds of birds and small animals began to return to normalcy. Then Veeka heard another noise a soft whimpering that suddenly broke out into a lusty newborn cry.

The pilot was on her feet again in an instant and bashing at the hatch to get it open. After a moment the mechanism haltingly lowered a meter and no more.

"We have been saved!" a mechanical voice shrieked as Veeka clambered through the hatch opening. The med droid's lower limbs were twisted and one arm was hanging useless at its side.

"The baby, where is she? Is she okay?" Veeka scanned the wreckage of the hold.

"The infant is unharmed but she requires nourishment." The med droid hobbled on her twisted leg toward a shelf that would normally have been used to store supplies. There wrapped in what must have been her mother's piloting jacket was the tiny baby girl.

Veeka lifted the baby carefully from the shelf and cradled the infant in her arms. Some how, miraculously, she appeared to be completely unhurt. "How is this possible?"

The joints of the med droid creaked. "She floated."

"What?"

"During the crash. I could hardly believe my optical sensors. The infant seemed to float in the air."

"You mean like she has some kind of magic, Jedi powers?"

The med droid paused to process the information. "I suppose that would explain the phenomena."

"What are you, little Soniee?" Veeka gazed with awe at the bundle in her arms. The little eyes that stared back up at her looked too wise for only being a few hours old, but the baby was still so small, so vulnerable. She began to cry again and Veeka hushed her gently. "K'uur ad'ika."

The battle-hardened pilot began to hum the tune Soniee's mother had been singing. She didn't know the words but it seemed to soothe the child and then she spoke the words from her heart, "Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad."

* * *

Mando'a translations from Wookieepedia:  
k'uur - Hush!  
ad'ika - kid, lad, boy, sweetie, darling, son, daughter, child  
Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad - "I know your name as my child"; Mandalorian adoption vow


	3. about kriffing time

and now we return you to your regularly scheduled fluff... and the holls are over so Lagos and Amis are back at the Academy!

* * *

The halls were filling up with students again and with them the noise of unpacking and greeting friends and all the emotions of hormone crazed adolescents. Soniee wished she could turn off her brain for a few hours. Maybe there was something to be said for going to the Jedi Temple and being trained to handle all the incoming sensory information. She rubbed her temples and pulled on her headphones and visor. Before she could even pick a channel to zone out on, however, she heard a sound that was much closer and obviously intended to draw her attention.

"Lagos, what are you doing?" Soniee's roommate had arrived back a couple hours before and had spent nearly that entire time in the 'fresher that adjoined their dorm room.

"Just counting," came the blond's sing-song reply.

"Counting what?"

"...eighteen, nineteen... no they're all still here."

"What's still..." Soniee turned to look at the door and saw her friend holding a box out for her to see. It was a staple item for all med cabinets of cadets over a certain age, contraceptive strips that could be stuck on the skin prior to certain activities and would be effective for 24 hours. Soniee rolled her eyes and turned back around in her chair.

Lagos continued. "I thought for sure that there would be at least a few missing since we left the two of you alone here for the whole holiday."

"No," Soniee grumbled. "We didn't quite get around to that."

"Well that's good to hear or I'd be escorting you down to the med center for a little test I'm not sure even you could pass." She laughed at her own joke.

Soniee was now even more ready to get lost in her music and vids. She pulled the visor back down and was almost at the point of finding the channel she wanted when Lagos exited the 'fresher and cleared her throat for attention once again.

The blond spun around. "What do you think?" She was wearing a short skirt and a low cut, sleeveless blouse.

"Going out?" Soniee asked.

"Yes, and I'm going prepared." Lagos showed her roommate the prominently displayed strip that was stuck to her right bicep. Most girls at least hid them under a sleeve or waistline just in case. Making it so obvious left no doubt of someone's intentions.  
"Well have fun." Soniee wasn't upset in the least that she would have the dorm room to herself for another evening.

"Aren't you going to ask who I'm going with?"

"Do I care?"

"I suppose not, since you've had him to yourself for a fortnight and haven't done anything about it."

That got Soniee's attention. "You're going out with Korkie?"

"Um-hmm." Lagos smiled.

Soniee didn't know whether to be hurt or angry or... it wasn't really any of her business. She and Korkie had never discussed being anything more than friends. But still something very close to jealousy took root inside of her chest. She jumped up from her seat. She wasn't really dressed for going out but she didn't care. She went to the 'fresher and took one of the strips for herself, sticking it to the bare skin of her forearm. Then pushing past Lagos she called back, "Maybe I'll see if Amis is back from his holiday."

She could hear Lagos hurrying behind her to watch the show.

Korkie met her at the entrance to the common room, "Soniee, I've got the best news!" But she pushed past him also, ignoring his words, and searching the room for the other boy.

Amis was intently focused on a game, thumbs busy on the controller, racking up points, blasting droids. She leaned over the back of the couch by his shoulder and whispered rather loudly. "You wanna go make out?"

He spared her half a glance, "Yeah, eh, sure. Just let me finish this level."

Soniee stood up straight and rolled her eyes. "Never mind. I'll be in the garage," she growled, aggravated. Laughter followed her out of the common room and down the hall.

Out in the Academy garage the smells of oil and coolant and fuel were oddly comforting. It reminded her of her adopted mother's workshop. She had grown up around speeders, ships, and Veeka Ordo's prized fighter. She had learned how to keep all kinds of makes and models running in prime condition. Not many people knew about that particular talent. Here at the academy she had mostly given her attention to smaller mechanical projects, but tonight she needed to get her hands on an engine again.

Soniee looked around at the assortment of vehicles that belonged to the academy. Some were for piloting lessons, others for transporting cadets to field trip locations. Ah, there it was! The swoop! Cadets had to have special permission to fly it, but she didn't want to take it out of the garage, she just wanted to give it a tune up. She found a toolbox and a hover-board on the wall and brought them over to her selected vehicle. She laid down on the hover-board and slid underneath the swoop. Then she pressed open the access panel and started work.

"Hey, Soniee!" she heard Amis call, when she had just gotten to the trouble spot.

"I'm," she grunted unscrewing a tightly stuck bolt and then since no one could see her, drew on the force to get the thing to move. "Over here by the swoop."

She could see a pair of feet come closer to her across the garage floor and then stop.

"What are you doing under there?" Amis asked.

"Well," She removed the piece that needed to be replaced and then slid out from under the swoop to look up at him. "You know that sound it was making, kind of like a sick nerf?"

"I thought it was supposed to sound like that."

"Well, it's not. So I'm fixing it." She grabbed a rag and wiped off her hands before offering one of her hands to the boy so he could help her up.

"You." He looked at her amazed. "Can fix bikes?" he didn't let go of her hand.

"And speeders, and light freighters, and the odd star fighter..."

He looked her up and down as if seeing her in a whole new light. "That's kind of hot."

She blushed. "My mom's a pilot. Actually both my moms were pilots."

"You've got two moms." He stepped closer to her and she took a step back so that she was backed up against the side of the swoop. "That's pretty hot too." Then he was leaning closer to kiss her.

"That's not really what I..." She couldn't finish because his lips clumsily claimed hers. Her instinct was to push him away immediately and she might have done so with the added power of the force, which would have been disastrous for keeping her secret and might have really hurt Amis and any of the vehicles she slammed him into. But just then she heard the footsteps and voices of more people entering the garage. She had no problem sensing that one of them was Korkie, so instead of pushing Amis away she took hold of his upper arms and pulled him closer.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Korkie sounded angrier than she had ever heard him as he pulled Amis away from her.

Lagos was standing off to the side with her arms folded over her chest, grinning.

Amis looked slightly dazed and laughed. He put up his hands in a placating gesture. "Only what she suggested, mate."

And then Korkie looked at Soniee. He glanced down at the strip stuck to her arm and then back up into her eyes and she read hurt and disappointment in his expression.

"I wasn't going to..." she started and then threw back at him. "You were going out with Lagos!"

"I was..." Korkie looked around at the other girl who gave him a smug wave. "I was walking her down to Peace Park because she was meeting someone and didn't want to go alone."

"Amis can do that!" Lagos called. The blond grabbed the other boy's arm and pulled him toward the garage exit. "Our work here is done."

Amis laughed and gave Lagos a high five. "See ya, kids!"

"You mean you weren't..." Soniee asked eyes glued to Korkie's, not watching the other two leave.

He shook his head. "Of course not." He took her arm in his hands and ran a thumb along the strip. "And you weren't..."

"I couldn't have gone through with it. It's just that Lagos said you and she..."

Korkie looked back toward the exit where the pair had gone. "There is nothing, at all, between Lagos and me. Believe me." And then he added. "Ever."

Soniee smiled. "And there's nothing between Amis and me. Ever."

"Good." He smiled and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Because I would kind of like for there to be something between... you and me." He looked at her questioningly.

"I would like that, too."

"Then would it be okay..." he swallowed. "Can I kiss you?"

Soniee nodded and lifted her chin, tilting her head back. As he leaned closer, she closed her eyes. When their lips touched it was that same pleasant tingle of excitement that she always got when she sensed him coming into a room only closer and more powerful. It felt so essentially right and she never wanted it to end.

Then there was a burst of applause and they heard Amis shout, "It's about kriffing time!"

She felt Korkie smile against her lips and he broke away just enough so that their foreheads were still touching. "I agree," he whispered to her.

"Me too."

Korkie called out toward their matchmakers, "Thank you. You can go now!"

"Going," Lagos called back and she gave a little squeal of delight that trailed off down the hallway.

Once he was sure they were really alone, Korkie raised his hands to either side of her face and pulled her close for another kiss. Almost as soon as it had begun however he broke way. "Soniee, I forgot! I wanted to tell you!"

"What is it?" She grinned, sorry for the kiss to end but taken in by his obvious excitement.

"He's not dead! My father! He impersonated a bounty hunter and saved the Chancellor of the Republic!"

"That's incredible!" And she was truly happy for him. Of course just about anything he said just then would have made her happy.

Korkie caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes leaning against his hand. "This means I still have the chance to meet him and I want you to meet him too. I want everyone to know that you are the woman I love."

Her eyes fluttered open. "You love..." she asked. "Me?"

"Yes," he breathed pulling her into another kiss.  
"I love you, Korkie," she whispered when they finally broke apart.

He backed up just a bit to look at her, like he was seeing her for the first time, or like he was trying to memorize her. He noticed the strip on her arm again and gulped. "You know we don't have to... if you're not ready."

Soniee blushed and looked away from his eyes. "I think I would like to wait, for a while, till both of us are ready."

He turned her face to look at him and smiled. Then he took her arm and pealed off the adhesive strip in one quick motion. He wadded it up and threw it over his shoulder. "Till we're both ready."

She winced for just a moment but smiled again as soon as the slight sting passed. Then she sighed, "Maybe some day we won't even have need for..." She let the sentence drop, blushing again.

He nodded, "Some day." Then he grinned. "Till then though, kissing is alright, right?"

"Yes." Soniee pulled him into the kiss this time.

After a second he pushed away with a questioning frown. "Better than with Amis?"

She giggled. "Much better!"


	4. send me an angel

this chapter takes place a few years later and several star systems away but i promise it does relate to the story and the main character(s) will find their way there eventually. i was planning on having Soniee go looking for the history of her birth parents at some point but with the news of Saw Gerrera joining the cast of Rogue One i got the idea for this scene in my head and had to go ahead and write it. Maybe i'll go back and put all the chapters back in chronological order some day.  
Agent Kallus mentions in Rebels that Saw Gerrera was working with a Lasat Mercenary but so far in canon he doesn't have a name. I liked the name Zal so i decided to name him after Lovin' Spoonful Guitarist Zalman Yanovsky. I think Zalyanov Skimanos sounds like a fine Lasat name and maybe he can sing protest songs for the other rebels. *shrug*  
So here you have it, on Onderon, deep under Iziz, sometime after order 66, during the purge.

* * *

More refugees. It hadn't been compassion that had led Saw to start taking in the organic detritus of the Empire and housing them in the tunnels under the city. There were two reasons. First, they were an excellent cover for what was hiding even deeper in the caverns that honeycombed the ground below Iziz. The head quarters for the rebellion had delved under the surface after the Empire had started to burn down the jungle and left them exposed. The ancient tunnels had provided the perfect barracks for his fighters and storage for the munitions they had gathered, even if a few of the Onderonian natives worried about the ghost stories they had grown up hearing about the place.

Secondly, Saw thought as he looked into the faces of the beings seeking refuge, was the chance that some of these fugitives might have the spirit in them to fight back. Mostly the expressions were those of fear or relief at having found a relatively safe place to lay their heads, but the campaigner knew by the look in the eyes of a few that they were thirsting for revenge. He made a mental note of each of these and would approach them later to offer an opportunity to join the cause. His secret hope, that he hadn't even shared with his most trusted generals, was that among all of those who showed up, he might come across one of the Empire's most wanted. As the purge continued, however, that dream grew fainter everyday.

Suddenly, a low rumble shook the ground beneath his feet. There were screams from some of the women and children but Saw didn't stop to offer anyone comfort. He raced for the steep stone stairway that led down to the next level. Men and women were rising from their bunks asking if there was an attack and what they should do but Saw continued past them, down another flight of stairs. Shelves lined with blasters and explosives seemed to be in perfect order.

It wasn't until he had gone down to an even lower level that Saw began to see the smoke and dust in the air and knew that the blast had come from one of the tunnels they had only recently discovered. He heard coughing and then laughter and then through the haze he saw a pair of blue eyes and heard a deep rough voice, "Excuse me."

"Are you still with us, Zalyanov, my friend?" Saw asked crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on the cavern wall.

The Lasat mercenary patted down his arms and torso and stroked his singed beard. "Yeah, I think I'm all here." He laughed again which turned into a cough because of the still swirling dust.

"What the osik are you up to?"

"Down to, more like." Zal jerked his thumb toward the still settling dust. "Just gotta feeling there's something behind that blocked tunnel but it's shut up tight."

Saw walked toward the section of wall to study it. There was quite clearly an arch that would seem to indicate a doorway to a passage of some sort. It could have just been a niche that had been the intended resting spot of a statue in the distant past, but as Saw looked at it closer he could see the recently scattered dust swirling around a draft at the edge of what seemed to be a stone panel. "I think you're right."

He placed his hand on the stone and drew it away again. "It's cold."

"Yeah, weird." Zal brushed his hand against the surface feeling the temperature and also the uneven texture, "I think there's somethin' written on it." He brushed a little more of the dirt away and then staggered back. "Karabast!" He made a sign with his hand over his heart as if to ward off evil.

"What is it?" Saw looked at the symbols that had been uncovered. He couldn't read the ancient writing but it did have an air of menace about it. "Have you seen something like this before?"

"Not exactly." The Lasat regained some of his bravado and edged closer again. "Reminds me of some of the stuff the old seers on Lasan would conjure up when they were calling on the Ashla. Gives me the same kind of tingle down the back of my neck."

Saw thought about the old stories he had heard growing up, about what might be lurking down below the city. They said that sorcerer kings from the times of the Old Republic used the tunnels in their worship of dark deities. He had never believed tales. Inquisitively, he began to feel around for some sort of mechanism to open the door.

"I don't know if you should..." Zal warned and then cleared his throat not wanting to appear afraid.

More dust fell away from the slab revealing more of the runes carved into the surface. "Maybe I can read some of this..." Saw tilted his head to one side and then the other. The text was older than anything he had ever seen before but it did seem to be related to the old Onderonian he knew. He sounded it out but it still didn't make any sense to him, "Free-" he brushed away a bit more dust. "Freedun Nadd. That's what it spells but I don't know what it means. Might be a name or..."

Saw laid his hand flat against the slab again and for just a moment thought he felt what Zal had described, a tingle down his spine, and suddenly it remind him of something. "Ahsoka," he murmured. "What was it you said, Zal? On Lasan, what did the old witches call on?"

"The Ashla. It's like a... spirit of the galaxy, flows through everything living, makes stuff happen."

"Hmm..." Saw pushed back the eerie feeling that he got from the doorway and continued to look for a way to open it. "Sounds kind of like how the Jedi explain... explained," he switched to past tense. "The force." A memory came to him of a conversation he had overheard.

 _The three Jedi and the clone trooper were sitting around a campfire on their first night in the jungle._

 _"Master," Ahsoka asked. "Ever since we arrived here I've felt something, like it's just under the surface, something dark."_

 _Anakin laughed. "Didn't we tell you about the ancient Sith Lord who was buried on Onderon?"_

 _"Ooooo," Captain Rex moaned in a ghostlike quaver and Ahsoka batted at him with the back of her hand._

 _They had all seemed so at ease with each other in their respite from the 'real' war._

 _"Obi-wan, tell them the story," said Anakin._

 _The older Jedi set down his cup of caf and cleared his throat and began to tell it like a true storyteller. "It was thousands of years ago, a young Jedi named Freedun Nadd grew dissatisfied with the teachings he had received at the temple and embraced the path of the Sith. He sought out the tomb of Darth Naga Sadow where he found the Dark Lord's holocron. It is said that he not only learned the ways of the dark side but in fact absorbed Sadow's spirit before coming to Onderon. Here he used what he had learned to stay alive and rule for hundreds of years. When he finally died he was buried below the palace of Iziz and from there his powerful spirit continued to influence and corrupt every being with which it came in contact."_

 _Anakin suddenly grabbed Ahsoka's shoulder and shouted, "Boo!" causing the female Jedi to jump and curse and then they had all laughed._

Saw touched the engraving on the slab again. "Freedun Nadd," he said again. He had heard the name before. It had sounded different in Basic and in Kenobi's posh Coruscanti accent but it was the same name. "Wouldn't mind having that kind of power on our side when it comes down to it."

"What?" Zal asked. "A Jedi fighting beside us? Sorry, mate. I think the Empire's taken all of them out."

Finding no way to open the ancient doorway, Saw stepped back. "Maybe that's what it takes to open this thing," he wriggled his fingers at it. "Some kind of Force sorcery."

"Could be." The Lasat shrugged.

"Who knows maybe our very own Jedi will be on the next transport o' exiles."

"Ha. I wouldn't count on it."


	5. Shades of Reason

What it says on the tin. this is what's going on with the cadets at the Royal Academy during this episode of season 5.

* * *

The Academy was on lockdown. With crime syndicates running rampant, Mandalore couldn't risk their future leaders being caught in the crossfire. Inactivity was taking it's toll on Korkie and his fellow cadets.

"We should be out there doing something!" he paced the length of the common room again.

"Doing what?" Amis asked. He was sitting on the edge of the couch next to Lagos who was curled up with her arms around her knees, in as tight a knot as her emotions. "We don't even know what's going on."

"We will soon," Soniee promised, giving them all a hopeful smile from behind the open panel of the holo screen. She pulled down her visor as sparks flew, then made the final connection, and the unit flickered to life. As the image of the Duchess came into view, Soniee lifted the visor again, crossed the room to where Korkie had paused in his circuit and took one of his hands in both of hers. He smiled appreciatively at her.

Duchess Satine stood on the steps of the palace addressing the assembled crowd, "I need you all to remain calm. These attackers are just thugs, brought on by the lowest element."

She was interrupted by another voice, "The duchess Satine has led us to ruin." Pre Viszla zoomed up to her with two of his solders in jet packs.

Korkie stiffened next to Soniee and she squeezed his hand tighter glancing up at his angry features before looking back at the holo image.

Satine held her ground, "Deathwatch! Guards stay back!" She waved them away and confronted her old enemy. "Viszla, you must be the one responsible for these attacks!"

He landed boldly in front of her. "No, I'm not responsible, but I can offer a solution." He took off his helmet and turned to address the crowd, "People of Mandalore, I am Pre Viszla of Clan Viszla. Deathwatch is here to save you from these intergalactic gangsters that threaten our great city! This is a war and we will win!"

The people cheered.

"How can they believe him after everything he's done?" Korkie looked as if he wanted to jump into the holo and take on villain himself.

"Join me," Viszla continued. "and let us defend Mandalore against the criminals. We need action, not pacifism!"

"Do not listen to him!" The Duchess tried to reason with her people. "His war will cause the end of Mandalore as we know it!"

Viszla interrupted her, "We are under attack! There is no time for discussion."

The cadets watched as the crowd began to chant his name.

"He does kind of have a point," Lagos conceded.

"What?" Korkie turned on her angrily, Amis stood between them, and Soniee held onto him to keep him from doing anything foolish.

"Nothing against your Aunt, Korkie." Lagos pressed herself back into the couch cushions. "I'm just saying this may have gone beyond the point of a peaceful resolution."

Viszla in the holo image had put his helmet back on and flew up into the air over the crowd. "The name Mandalore will strike fear into the hearts of these gangsters!"

There was nothing the duchess could say to regain the attention of the mob. They were chanting for Viszla now and eventually with a pained look on her face, flanked by her guards, she retreated inside the palace.

"Turn it off!" Korkie said and Soniee watched him for a moment to make sure he wasn't going to lash out before she went to comply. "There's more going on here." He took up his pacing again.

Soniee could sense it too. "It is a little convenient that Deathwatch is in the perfect position to _save_ us from the threat," She said, switching off the holo. She had never been trained to do so, but she attempted to project a sense of calm toward Korkie.

He held out a hand toward her and she went back to his side. He slid one arm around her shoulders and she continued her efforts help him control his emotions.

Amis frowned. "You think Deathwatch is working with the gangsters?"

Lagos was still unconvinced. "Why would Mandalorians ally themselves with outsiders?"

"I wouldn't put it past Viszla if it meant getting my Aunt off the throne!" Korkie's tone was still angry but he didn't seem about to attack.

"Well, what do we do about it?" Amis asked. "I assume we are going to do something."

Korkie smiled. "Oh, we're going to do something. Now that we can find out what's happening." He looked at Soniee and winked. "But we're not going to rush into anything. We've made that mistake before."

Lagos uncurled herself from the couch and stood with the other three. "Well I'm in. If Deathwatch is really working with the offworlders they certainly don't need to have anything to do with running Mandalore."

Korkie nodded at her.

Soniee smiled around at her friends and took a deep breath. "Information. Alright. I guess that's my department." Then Korkie surprised her by spinning her around and kissing her fiercely. She blushed still a little shy of public displays of affection.

The kiss had been noticed by several of the other cadets lounging around the common room. There was laughter and a few cheers.

Lagos grinned and elbowed Amis in the ribs. "What's my department again?"

Amis considered and then turned to her with a smile. "You get to look good driving the getaway speeder."

"I can handle that."


	6. Shades of Reason cont

yeah so i probably should have made these all one chapter but it's all good. still events that take place during the episode Shades of Reason. and enter Auntie Bo!

* * *

The holonet access wasn't being blocked anymore. Though, Soniee was sure they were only seeing what Viszla wanted them to see. There were new images every day of the Deathwatch taking various criminals into custody. And then the Night Owls were sent in to 'liberate' the Academy.

All the cadets from youngest to oldest were lined up and their names checked off against lists. They were being sent home where they could become productive members of their respective clans. Most of the cadets seemed thrilled to go. The younger ones were happy that the danger was over and they could be with their families, but even some of the students in Soniee's year were cheering for shift from the peaceful centralized government back toward leadership by the clans.

"Did any of them even listen during any of our classes?" Korkie mumbled angrily while they stood at the end of the line.

Soniee stood next to him holding his hand tightly and trying to sooth him. "All they've heard are the lies. They have no idea what's really going on."

"Do we even know what's going on?" Lagos sighed. "I just know I don't want to leave Sundari until we find out."

"We'll find a way to make them let us stay." Amis squeezed her shoulder.

The line moved slowly but finally the four of them stood directly in front of the table where the Night Owl leader checked the list. "Korkie..." She looked up at him. "Kryze." And then for the first time in the whole ordeal she took off her helmet. Her hair was dark red and her green eyes, hard as she studied him. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Ma'am," Korkie began. "Soniee and I, we're war orphans. We were adopted by the clans. We never knew our real parents so we, er, don't really have homes to go back to."

The Night Owl raised her eyebrows and leaned back in her chair. "You don't have any loyalty to your adopted clans?"

"Of course we do," Soniee spoke up. "We appreciate very much everything they've done for us."

"Soniee..." She checked her list again. "Ordo?"

Soniee nodded. "Veeka Ordo saved me from the crash that killed my mother. I know I owe her my life but you know..." She glanced at their inquisitor and then back at Korkie. "Clan Ordo, Clan Kryze, they don't really approve. If you send me home I might never be allowed to see Korkie again." She reached up with one hand to wipe away a couple of tears from her cheeks.

They were real tears. She hadn't realized how much she had been worrying about that exact thing.

Korkie cupped her face with his hand and rubbed his thumb over her cheek. He looked at her like he had only just realized the truth of the statement. They had been so worried about the duchess and the state of things that he hadn't even thought of what Soniee's clan might think of the two of them being together.

"How sweet," said the Night Owl, thoroughly unmoved. "And I'm just supposed to leave you two love birds here alone in an abandoned school?"

"Not completely alone. I'm Lagos, house Jerec." She pushed her way forward. "I'm Soniee's roommate and kind of chaperon, if you know what I mean. And um..." She lowered her voice. "I actually kind of wanted to ask you about..."

Amis interrupted her. "You see, Ma'am, the four of us. We've been together so long. It's almost like we've made up our own clan."

"And you are?" The Night Owl leader looked quite amused now.

"Amis Lok. Loyal to the clan and all but I'm the youngest of five so they won't miss me much if I hang around here for a while."

"That's just it, Ma'am." Korkie took the lead again. "We're so close to graduation. In another few months we should have been making these decisions for ourselves. If we could just stay here, together, for a little while, until we can make other arrangements..."

The red-haired woman looked at each of them in turn but her gaze lingered the longest on Korkie. It was then that Soniee got the strangest flash of a vision. It was a tiny newborn baby with a shock of fuzzy auburn hair on the top of his head and he was in the arms of a very young, smiling Satine Kryze.

Soniee gasped and the woman stared at her. She tried to cover quickly, "We could... do something to earn our keep. I can fix things, electronics, speeders..."

"Okay." The woman said after another full Galactic standard minute of silence. She looked around to see that none of her lieutenants were close by and lowered her voice. "I can't believe I'm considering this, but as you say, the four of you are almost of age anyway. I will allow you to stay until other arrangements can be made."

They looked at each other smiling.

"It won't be for long. I don't know what the plans are for these buildings but with all the cadets being sent away, I'm sure someone will want the space for something other than an academy."

Their smiles fell away. The Academy had been their home and it had been in operation since the duchess was young.

"Thank you." Korkie finally spoke for all of them. "We really appreciate it. Maybe we can start by, er, just cleaning up around this place, taking inventory of supplies or something like that."

"We'll talk about it later." The Night Owl leader nodded. "Right now I've got to see to getting the rest of these kids sent home." She didn't look as though the prospect was very appealing. She would probably rather be out in a battle somewhere.

"We'll get out of your way then." Korkie smiled and pulled Soniee away where they could talk. Amis followed, but a few steps behind them.

"She knows who you are, Korkie." Soniee whispered when they had left a decent amount of space between them and the woman.

"Of course she knows. She has all the academy records..."

"No. I - I saw something. I can't explain it, but she knows who your mother really is." She couldn't elaborate because at that moment Amis came up to them and pointed back they way they had come.

"Hey, what's she up to?"

Lagos was still at the table chatting with the Night Owl. She seemed interested in the leader's helmet but then she too was dismissed so that they could get on with their business.

"What was that all about?" Korkie asked, a little miffed when she had finally joined them.

Lagos shrugged. "Just asking her about the Night Owls, what they do and stuff."

"They're part of the Deathwatch. They are the enemy." He said a little too loud.

Soniee looked around but no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

"Look," Lagos stood up to him. "I didn't think it would hurt to appear interested. It would be kind of nice to have somebody like that on our side."

"Yeah but is she on our side?"

Soniee stepped between them. "I don't think she means us any harm." She gave Korkie a meaningful look. "She's going out on a limb for us."

"But why would she..." Korkie asked.

"I don't know. But it's like you said. She has all our records. She could have easily marched you off to see Viszla and she didn't."

"Soniee's right," Amis chipped in as if he had only just thought of it. "You're the Duchess's nephew but she didn't even mention it."

That night after the rest of the students had been shipped off to their own homes and clans, the four of them were alone in the common room. They watched the holonews of the most recent developments.

"Hey that's her!" Lagos pointed. "That's Bo-Katan the leader of the Night Owls."

They watched as the woman they had just met that morning paced in front of a group of shackled prisoners on the steps of the palace.

"Duchess Satine and the new Mandalorian leaders have fled in cowardice, while the Deathwatch brought these criminals to justice." Bo-Katan smiled proudly. "Your new prime minister Pre Viszla, leader of Deathwatch, exiled governor of Concordia, true son of Mandalore presents you with the lords of the most feared crime families in the galaxy."

Then the holo image showed, Viszla. He just stood there silently smiling, surveying his new domain. It sickened Soniee and she turned off the holo unable to stand it anymore.

"Fled?" Korkie asked. "Where would they go? Auntie Satine wouldn't..."

"What if she didn't? What if they..." Amis gulped.

Soniee shook her head. "No, they wouldn't. They wouldn't... get rid of her unless it suited their purpose."

"Yeah," Korkie agreed with her, or maybe he was just grasping at hope. "He's named himself Prime Minister and she might still come in useful. They'll have her locked up somewhere like Almec did before."

"Maybe they think," Lagos swallowed. She looked stricken like she couldn't believe what she was about to suggest. "Maybe they're keeping us here because they think you'll come in useful." She frowned at Korkie.

Korkie didn't say anything but Soniee could tell he was worried.

Later that night after they had all gone to bed, Soniee woke from a deep sleep. She wasn't sure at first what had woken her, but then she sensed the worry and indecision of Korkie's mind just outside of the dormroom she shared with Lagos. The other girl was still sound asleep in her bunk on the other side of the room so Soniee got up quietly and went to the door. She opened it and squinted at the bright light of the hallway. "Korkie?" she whispered.

He came to her right away and hugged her tightly. "I had a nightmare. I had to see you."

She returned the hug and then cupped his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes. "You're worried that you're putting us in danger?"

He nodded.

She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. "I don't think they're keeping you here to use you. I - I feel like this Bo-Katan might be trying to protect you, like she knows who you are and she doesn't want the others to find out. I know it doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't make any sense," he repeated and pulled her close to himself again. "Soniee, I don't want to be alone tonight. Could I..."

"Of course." She smiled reassuringly at him. "We'll just have to be quiet."

He smiled gratefully at her and held her hand tightly while she lead him back into her room.

She got into bed and scooted all the way over to make room for him. Then he slipped in beside her fully clothed. They didn't speak or even kiss. They just held each other and eventually fell asleep, content.


	7. one day more

wow this chapter just kind of took off and carried me along with it. I blame Lagos. She was a little angrier than i thought she'd be about being left out of the loop. so umm yeah still during Shades of Reason but i promise the next chapter will follow the events of Lawless, finally! that being said this is really the last day of innocence for the Royal Academy cadets. They've got the run of the Academy with no supervision and they're going to make the most of it.

* * *

Soniee had no idea what day of the week it was but she was fairly sure she didn't have any early classes today. Even if she did, she was totally skiving off because she was entirely too comfortable to get out of bed. She was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and sure that there could be nothing at all wrong in the galaxy on a day like this.

That is until her roommate's voice broke the stillness. "Oh, really? What is this?"

A deep chuckle hummed against Soniee's ear and Korkie drew her a bit closer. A month, or a week, or even a day ago she might have been embarrassed at their discovery, instead she just smiled, "Five more minutes, Mom."

From the sounds she was making Soniee was sure Lagos was going through her normal morning routine, gathering her things to head into the 'fressher for a shower. "I do hope spooning was all you two got up to while I was right across the room." said the blond. "Though if you wanted privacy all you had to do was ask. We've got the run of the place. I can have my things moved into another room after breakfast. I was actually thinking about moving into one of the staff rooms..."

"Oh how I wish she would shut up," Soniee sighed.

"Not a bad idea though." Korkie kissed the back of her head. "I could move my things in here, wake up like this every morning?"

"Mmmm. I like that idea."

The door swished open and Amis walked in without ceremony. "Ah, I thought that might be where he ended up. Lagos, you were supposed to be chaperoning those two."

"Hey, I was asleep." Lagos defended herself. "But I'm fairly sure they're both fully clothed under there."

Korkie looked back over his shoulder at the other two. "Now, how do you know that? We might have been silently kriffing here all..."

"Korkie!" Soniee sat up, blushing and pushed him out of the bed.

"Ouch!" he landed on hard on the floor and they all laughed. "Does this mean you don't want me to move in?"

"Are we moving rooms?" Amis asked.

"I am." Lagos winked at him on her way into the 'fresher. "After breakfast, I'm gonna see if the rumor is true that the director's room has a hot tub."

"Ooo breakfast!" Amis headed out the door. "Will there still be breakfast?"

"We'll have to make it ourselves." Korkie stood and offered a hand to Soniee. "What's your pleasure, My Lady?"

"Cake!" She answered standing and kissing him. "I overheard one of the instructors say something about having one ready for Prof. Matak's birthday today. It'll be in the staff room cooler!"

And thus began a full day of frivolity for the four cadets. They went through all of the staff and cadet accommodations to see if anyone had left anything behind and if there was a room that they'd like better than their own. Lagos never found the hot tub she wanted but the director's suite did have a lovely view of downtown Sundari. Amis settled in the assistant director's rooms across the hall from her. Soniee decided she liked her own rooms well enough and it would have been a pain to move all of the electronics projects she had going on in there anyway, and Korkie moved in with her as promised. Lagos, however, raided the med cabinets of every other dorm room and presented the couple with 57 boxes of contraceptive strips, proclaiming that this fulfilled her job as chaperon.

At midday the four of them decided to search the kitchen and found that as much as they hated to admit it Bo-Katan had been right. They would have to find other accommodations eventually, because although there was plenty of food now, it wouldn't last forever.

They weren't going to think about that now. They piled a hovercart high with everything they wanted for lunch and brought it back to their own common room. There the boys began an epic hologame battle. Amis lost and was forced to shave his head. They all knew he'd been wanting to do this for a while, though, so it wasn't really a loss, and Lagos did the honors.

He looked so much older with no hair, Soniee thought. And as she looked back and forth between Amis and Korkie she realized how much both of them had grown up. They were both so tall now, and their shoulders were so broad.

Korkie noticed her staring at him and winked at her. Soniee blushed. She stood and put a hand to the now empty hovercart. "I think I'll go and start checking out the classrooms, see if anyone left anything interesting there."

"I'll come with you," Korkie grinned.

On a sudden inspiration, she grinned back at him, "You'll have to catch me." And she ran from the room pushing the hovercart with Korkie hot on her heals. That is until they were out of sight of the other two and she put on a burst of Force assisted speed and bounded ahead of him.

"Hey that's cheating!" he called after her.

Soniee only giggled and turned the corner into a random classroom. She hopped up onto the top of the instructor's desk and surveyed the rest of the room. Then she began idly levitating datapads and holobooks from the other desks onto the hovercart, waiting for Korkie to find her.

Soon, he rounded the corner and entered the room, panting a bit from the sprint.

"Took you long enough." She didn't look at him and tried not to smile, as if she had been there all day.

He walked purposefully around the desk and placed himself directly in front of her demanding her attention. He set his hands on her knees and parted them slightly so he could stand between them. "You know." His hands ghosted up her outer thighs to her hips and then scooted her forward to the very edge of the desk. "We don't have to wait till curfew to go to our room."

Soniee had to resist the temptation to wrap her legs around him and lock her ankles behind his back. She wanted to slow down a bit. She leaned back on her hands hoping to put a little more distance between them but this seemed to only put her chest at a more pleasing angle because his gaze dropped from her face.

"I think," her voice cracked and she swallowed before continuing. "I think this is the classroom we were in when Padawan Ahsoka came to teach us."

Korkie looked up into her eyes and his were so full of passion she thought she might drown in them. He blinked twice and then glanced around the room, "I think you're right." He smiled. "Why didn't you ever contact her? Tell her about what you can do? Might be easier than talking to one of the Jedi Masters." While he spoke his hand slowly roamed up her side until it was just high enough for his thumb to graze the side of her breast.

Soniee gasped and her hips involuntarily thrust forward against him.

"Kriff," he groaned through his teeth. The offending hand slid sideways to cup her whole breast and his other arm snaked around her shoulders to pull her into a kiss.

She embraced him as well pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

When the kiss ended, nervous words flowed out of her. "I thought about contacting her but they've all been so busy with the war I didn't want to intrude. It would be easier to talk to her than that General Skywalker or your father." Suddenly she stopped and pushed him back enough to look him in the eye. "That's it!"

"What's it?" he chuckled.

"We need to contact the Jedi! They'll come and help us! I know they will! Kenobi will come and rescue your mother!"

It took him a moment to switch gears and then Korkie's eyes lit up with a completely different kind of excitement. "You're right! He would do anything for her!" He lifted Soniee from the desk and spun her around.

Then the heard a deep cough of a throat clearing in the hallway outside the door. "I didn't want to disturb you." Amis sidled into the room.

Korkie set her down and he and Soniee rushed over to their friend. "No, it's alright. We have a plan now." She smiled excitedly.

"That's good." Amis frowned. "Because there's something on the holonews you need to see."

They walked down the hall way back toward the common room, Amis solemn, Korkie and Soniee holding hands and practically skipping.

"You, er, said something about your mother?" Amis asked.

"I'll explain when we get to Lagos. It'll be easier than having to do it twice." Korkie grinned.

"And you." Amis looked at Soniee warily. "You were going to talk to the Jedi because you can..."

She stopped walking and looked from one boy to the other. "I can use the Force, a little. I've been able to since I was a baby, didn't want to make a big deal about it."

Amis turned back to Korkie. "Your mom is the Duchess and she's" he pointed at Soniee. "A Jedi?"

Korkie answered uncomfortably, "Something like that."

Amis took a moment to process the information and then nodded. "Good because we're going to need all the help we can get." He started walking again toward the common room.

Korkie and Soniee looked at each other and then followed, more worried now about what they were about to see.

When they reached the common room. Lagos was sitting in front of the holoscreen ready to replay the story that she and Amis had already viewed once. She didn't speak as she activated it.

Pre Viszla was standing on the steps of the palace again this time with a horned Zabrak at his mercy. "The violence is over." He told the crowd. "The last of the parasites infecting Mandalore has been caught. The duchess has abandoned her duty to protect Mandalore. Her political dream only encourages aggression against our planet. We have learned from this beast the consequences of pacifist principals. It's now time to restore the traditions of Mandalore! No one will ever threaten us again!"

No one spoke as Lagos switched off the holo and went to stand next to Amis.

Korkie finally broke the silence. "We definitely need to contact the Jedi." He reached forward ready to activate the comm but Lagos grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Why are we getting the Jedi involved in this?" she asked.

Korkie shook her off. "Because my mother is in danger and the Council need to know."

"Your mother?" Lagos was incredulous.

"I can't quite believe it either." Amis shook his head. "Turns out Satine's not his Aunt after all."

"The Duchess is your mother." Lagos threw up her hands and stomped a few steps away and then back. "Well that explains a few things, but it doesn't explain why we need to get the Jedi involved. A Mandalorian took over the government from a Mandalorian. As repulsive as he might be, this is an internal matter. And we're neutral in the war so the Republic can't claim to be saving us from the Separatists!" Her points were sound just like when she debated him in class.

Korkie remained seated his head in his hands as he explained. "The Jedi Council sent protectors for her before, during our Civil War. Kenobi will come again if she needs him."

"You make it sound like..." Lagos's eyes grew wide as the truth dawned on her. "Oh Osik!"

"What?" Amis looked back and forth between them, confused.

"Show them." Korkie waved a hand at Soniee and she knew what he meant but she didn't want to comply. Slowly she pulled up the vid of the young duchess's arrival in Sundari after her exile.

Lagos watched the images shaking her head. Then she rolled her eyes and turned away. "A kriffing war orphan, right! Well, now we know why she doesn't acknowledge that you're hers."

Soniee could now feel the anger radiating from Korkie but he was trying hard not to rise to the bait.

"Wait." Amis finally caught on. "General Kenobi is your dad?"

They all looked at him and the expression on his face would almost have been comical if the situation had not been so heated.

"So." Korkie was whispering but it felt like a yell after the awkward silence. "Are you going to sell us out to the new Mand'alor?"

Lagos didn't answer right away. When she did she sounded more hurt than angry as if they had betrayed her by revealing the truth. "I honestly don't know." She walked out of the room without looking back.

Amis got up to follow. "I'll go talk to her."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," Soniee whispered after they had both gone.

"Are you?" Korkie asked. "Because I'm sure her reaction is exactly why Mother kept my father's identity a secret." He reached out and Soniee hugged him.

"Do you still want to try and contact him?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sure he'd want to know even if no one else can come."

Soniee nodded and turned to the holotable to initiate the comm but the signal was unavailable. She frowned. "The comm system isn't coming up."

"Here let me try." He knew she was better at this sort of thing than he was but he couldn't leave it be. After his own failure he slammed a fist down on the table and growled.

"Come on." Soniee offered him a hand. "Let's go see if it's all the comms or just this unit. There's another one in the staff lounge."

They tried the second unit but it too failed to pick up a signal. Soniee found a portable unit in one of the staff lockers. "We'll try outside and see if it's just a problem in the building."

He followed behind her but he was sure this plan would meet the same results. Before they got to the door Soniee stopped. She put her hands to her head and grimaced. The emotions of the crowds out in the street suddenly overwhelmed her. "They - they love him. He's their conquering hero and - and they've already forgotten everything she did for them."

Korkie wrapped his arms around her protectively and tipped her head up so she would look him in the eye. "That's why we need to do this. You can do this."

Soniee nodded and closed her eyes, focusing her thoughts on Korkie and his encouragement and the task at hand. After a moment a sense of calm settled over her and she smiled. They stepped out the door and tried again to get a signal on the portable holocomm projector. No luck. "They've got to be blocking the transmissions somehow."

"Maybe you have to be outside the city to get a signal."

She nodded, "I'm sure that's the case."

"Well then, we'll go to the garage and borrow a speeder." Korkie smiled.

Soniee stood on her toes and met his lips with hers. The kiss ended sooner than either of them would have liked.

"When all this is over..." He whispered and she trembled at the promise in those words. Then they ran to the garage, eager finish their mission.

Even though Soniee had made it her personal project to keep the academy's swoop in prime condition she still did all the usual pre-flight checks before she would take Korkie out on it. Just as she had decided it was ready to go and stepped astride waiting for him to climb on behind her she sensed it. "Someone's coming."

Then he heard the jetpacks, also, and hopped onto the bike. "Let's go. Maybe we can slip past them."

Soniee didn't like their chances against the Night Owls but she started the engine and turned toward the garage doors.

Bo-Katan landed directly in their path. "Now where do you two think you're going?"

"Running away. We're gong to elope." Korkie told her.

"Not today, little Duke." She took off her helmet and shook out her red hair.

"How did you know?" Soniee asked calmly.

Bo-Katan looked back over her shoulder so see that her followers were still a ways away. "I know she's not your aunt because I am."

"You're sisters?" Korkie asked.

"Yes, now come on and get inside. Where are your friends?"

The other night owls landed one by one covering their landing from possible enemy fire.

"They're in the staff wing," Soniee answered, puzzled by the actions of the one time Deathwatch allies. "What's going on?"

"Yeah," Korkie fumed. "I thought you would be celebrating with your buddy Viszla."

"Pre Viszla is dead." There was a catch in Bo-Katan's voice when she said the words. "He was murdered by that monster Maul! But that's not how they're going to spin it so we have got to get inside now."

Soniee nodded, took Korkie's hand in hers and led the way into the building.

Lagos met them in the hallway with Amis hurrying a few steps behind her. She looked coldly at Korkie for a moment and then back towards the Night Owls. "Saw you coming. What's going on?"

"Maul killed Viszla. I saw it myself." Bo-Katan caught them up. "Do you have a holoscreen? I'm sure it'll be all over the news. I need to see what their cover story is."

"In here." Lagos ushered them into the common room and activated the screen.

A familiar figure rose into the image. "Silence! Please! Silence! Hear me now!"

"Almec?" All four cadets exclaimed at once.

"Duchess Satine, the so-called pacifist who could not protect you when your lives were at stake, has murdered Pre Viszla, the true hero of Mandalore." The former Prime Minister lied.

"That's absurd!" Korkie yelled.

"K'uur!" several of them hushed him.

"Satine is now under arrest, and it was Pre Viszla's last command that I be reinstated as Prime Minister. I know my past is checkered, but I promise you I take full responsibility for my people. And my heart now bleeds for your pain. However, from this point on, Mandalore will be strong, and we will be known as the warriors we were always meant to be!"

Korkie looked over at his real Aunt. "I guess this means we're on the same side now?"

Bo-Katan raised an eyebrow, "So it seems."


	8. Lawless

leading up to and during the beginning scenes of the episode 'Lawless' from season 5 of the Clone Wars. Korkie, Bo-Katan and the others attempt to rescue the Duchess from prison so she can get a message to the Jedi Council about the state of Mandalore. Soniee gets a taste of what it's like to draw on something a little darker to try to rescue her friends.

* * *

Bo-Katan concluded the meeting and sent the Night Owls off to get a few hours sleep before they would execute their plans. The leader nodded toward Lagos and Amis who set off toward the staff wing.

"I think this might actually work," Korkie smiled when only he, Soniee, and his aunt remained in the common room. "Good night then." He held Soniee's hand in his and prepared to lead her back to their room. His grin and the blush in her cheeks betrayed their intentions.

Before they could take a step, however Bo-Katan laid a hand on each of their shoulders. "I think separate rooms might be in order for tonight."

Korkie bristled. "You can't tell us what to do. You're not my..."

"I'm not your mother and I won't pretend to be. But I do need you both well rested and not distracted for tomorrow."

"She's right," Soniee whispered and then squeezed Korkie's hand. "After we succeed, there will be plenty of time for..."

He grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Alright, till we succeed." Then he reluctantly let go of her hand and left the room.

Soniee sighed, remembering waking up in his arms and already regretting sending him off to sleep alone.

"I believe that boy would bring down Concordia and lay it at your feet," said Bo-Katan. "Reminds me of how his mother used to look at the holos of Kenobi."

Soniee turned and looked curiously at the Night Owl. "You've known all this time and you never told anyone. You never said anything to Viszla?"

"No." There was that break in her voice again and though Bo-Katan wouldn't say it, Soniee was sure the female warrior had been in love with the leader of Deathwatch. "He never even knew we were sisters."

"He could have put you on the throne in her place." Soniee ventured. "Another Kryze heir?"

"He would have had to kill her and I've never wanted her dead. She is family after all. But that's not how the title of Mand'alor is supposed to work." Her voice was hard but level. "It should never be passed down to weak offspring. Only the strongest should rule Mandalore."

"And you thought that was Viszla?"

"I had my doubts when he insisted that we join up with the offworlders, but he was sure we could use Maul and his brother and then get rid of them once we had the will of the people."

Soniee remembered the holo of the victorious Viszla lording his power over the Zabrak. "We thought you had arrested them."

"They used the Force to break free." Bo snarled.

"Force users?" Soniee gasped.

"Sith! And then Maul challenged Viszla to single combat..." Bo-Katan went on to describe the battle but Soniee was fixated on the word, Sith, the antithesis of the Jedi. She could feel the power behind that title and a dark sort of seduction.

Bo-Katan had stopped speaking and looked at her strangely. Soniee cleared her throat. "You don't trust force users. Then why would you help Duchess Satine to contact the Jedi Order?"

"Maybe they're the only ones who can stop Maul."

Soniee thought of her own weak, untrained abilities.

"Come on." The Night Owl patted her roughly on the back. "Sleep. So we can face tomorrow."

* * *

When Bo-Katan left the dorm room she had shared with Soniee the next morning, she ran smack into Korkie. "Krif, Kid! Your girlfriend is fine. She'll be out in a minute."

He nodded, on edge about the mission, but stayed at his post by the door.

It was actually several minutes later when Soniee emerged looking slightly uncomfortable in the borrowed, burgundy, skin-tight jumpsuit that would provide her with a bit of body armor and still let her move freely for the action ahead. Korkie goggled at her. "You look..."

"Eyes back in your head, Kryze." Lagos walked up behind him and slapped the backside of his head. "You see this is why you weren't allowed to share a room last night." Her voice was harsh but at least she was smiling at them again. She was wearing a greenish version of the same outfit that Soniee had on and she went to stand next to her former roommate and looped her arm through the brunette's.

"I'm surprised they haven't got you in Night Owl armor yet." Soniee smiled back at her friend, glad everything seemed to be water under the bridge now that they were all facing an adventure together.

Lagos grinned. "I believe this will be something of an initiation for all of us."

"Yeah but it's what you've always wanted." Soniee tugged slightly on the armor plating that was covering her torso. "I'm not sure if I'm cut out for it."

Just then Bo-Katan came back around and issued them each a blaster. "You'll do fine. I've seen your records you know, top of your class at target practice."

Soniee checked the weapon as she had been taught and slid it into the holster on her hip. "Never against organics though."

Korkie came up behind her and put his hands on her waist. "You're going to be amazing because you're always amazing."

"You may not want to sneak up on her like that now that she's armed." Bo-Katan warned. But Soniee only smiled. She could hardly tell them that it was impossible for Korkie to sneak up on her. She was too aware of the signature of his presence in the Force. And she would be keeping an extra close watch on him today if they were going to be facing as much danger as they were preparing for.

Just then Amis stepped up behind Lagos and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you gonna be alright today, Sweetums?" he asked her sappily.

"As long as you're there to protect me, My Love." She simpered. And then the two of them kissed with such ardor that it made Soniee blush.

"Okay," Korkie laughed. "We're not that bad."

"You totally are!" Lagos argued.

Amis grinned, "You're worse."

Bo-Katan finally stepped between them, "Alright, alright. You kids can continue your orgy later. We all know what we're doing today. Ordo, you and Baldy go check out the bikes."

Amis whooped, clapped his hands and practically danced down the hallway toward the garage.

Soniee prepared to follow but Korkie spun her around and kissed her. Someone grabbed her shoulder, pulled her away, and pushed her down the hall to follow Amis. She glanced back once with a smile and then ran ahead to do her job.

There were two bikes there now waiting for them, the school swoop and a nearly identical model that the Night Owls had acquired for them. She knew her bike was in perfect working order since she had just looked it over the day before, so she got right to work checking out the new one. She started it up and frowned.

"Sick nerf?" Amis asked.

"Yeah." Soniee shut it off again. "Wish I had time to really fix it up. I'll just have to see how much I can manage before they're ready to go." She grabbed tools as quickly as she could and slid under the swoop to see how much she could accomplish in the short time allotted to them.

"I uh... still think it's pretty hot that you can fix bikes." Amis stood back out of her way.

Soniee laughed. "But not as hot as Lagos."

"She's somethin' else." He grinned.

She tightened a loose bolt, replaced a couple of fuses, and silently lamented that she couldn't do a complete coolant flush. "Just don't tell Korkie that you two got to share a room last night." She called out to him.

"How'd you know that?" Amis asked. "Some sort of mind trick?"

"Nope." Soniee slid out from under the swoop wiping her hands on a cloth. "Just a wild guess." He helped her up. "You should take the academy bike. I'll take this one. And you should tell Lagos how you feel."

He avoided the later piece of advice and asked, "You think something might go wrong with this one? Korkie would never forgive me if I let you fly a broken bike."

"I don't think it's going to fall apart or anything. I'm just going to have to talk to it nicely." She smiled.

"If anybody could do it you could." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know Korkie's a lucky guy." Amis bent down and kissed her cheek. And in that moment her blood ran cold. She had a terrible premonition, a vision of his lifeless body sprawled next to the swoop. She froze. Maybe he just thought it was a negative reaction to his kiss. "I'll talk to Lagos," he said nervously, taking his hand from her shoulder and turning away.

"Before we leave." Soniee tried to say it encouragingly but it came out sounding more like a command. She took a breath and then more calmly said, "Why wait? You should tell her now."

He turned back and looked at her curiously. There was worry in his eyes but then he replaced it with a careless grin. "I did tell her a few things last night."

Soniee relaxed as the vision faded, it began to seem like only a baseless concern. She rolled her eyes and climbed astride the swoop while the rest of the rescue team began to file into the garage. She watched Amis walk over to Lagos, take her hand, and whisper something in her ear. She was so interested in the two of them that for the first time she could remember, Korkie did surprise her by climbing onto the bike behind her. She gave a little jump.

He chuckled. "You don't mind if I ride along with you on the way there?"

The Night Owls were checking their jetpacks and weapons, Lagos kissed Amis and then slid onto his bike behind him, and Korkie wrapped his arms around Soniee's waist to hold on for the ride.

"You don't think I'll distract you from what you've got to do when we get there?" She asked him.

"Nah." He breathed close to her ear. "You remind me what we're fighting for."

Soniee shivered. "Just so you don't distract me while I'm trying to fly." She switched on the engine and winced.

"How'd you end up with the sick nerf?" he asked.

She sighed. "I'm the better pilot."

* * *

The flight to the prison landing pad was almost too easy. Soniee watched as Korkie and Bo-Katan entered the complex with no opposition. She jumped off her bike and started pacing, her mind reaching out to stay in contact with Korkie while he searched for his mother's cell and freed her just as they had planned.

"It's going to be alright." Lagos hopped off Amis's bike and came to stand with her while they waited.

Soniee smiled at her and back at Amis and nodded but couldn't speak.

Then the door swished open and Bo-Katan exited followed closely by Korkie and the Duchess.

"It's all clear. Come on," said Amis.

Duchess Satine looked as determined as ever. "We need to contact the Jedi Council. Korkie give me your comlink."

"It won't be any good unless we get out of the city." Korkie handed it over. "All other frequencies are jammed."

Then the Duchess seemed to notice them all. "You are all taking a terrible risk by helping me."

Korkie grinned, "Nothing we haven't done before. Right, Auntie?"

Bo-Katan hurried them along. "Let's get going."

One of the night owls flew up in speeder. Soniee jumped back onto her swoop and she and Amis circled while Lagos jumped in to the speeder to take over piloting. Korkie and his mother and Bo-Katan hopped in behind her.

Soniee flew just to the right side of the speeder as they had planned and she saw Amis take up his position on the left side. Two of the night owls hovered just behind with their jetpacks.

Then the shooting started as three Deathwatch soldiers drop down behind them.

"Take them out!" Bo-Katan ordered her own fighters.

Soniee weaved to avoid the blaster bolts and glanced back to see the night owls each drop back to face an opponent.

"Get the Duchess clear!" Bo-Katan yelled as she also joined the fight.

It didn't take long for the Night Owls to dispatch the foe and Soniee sighed when they returned to follow closely again. But the relief was short lived as 2 and then 4 and then 6 more enemies appeared seemingly out of nowhere to pick up the chase.

Soniee felt the heat and the shockwave when the speeder was hit right beside her and she saw Lagos struggling at the controls. Thankfully just ahead was a hanger that offered some cover.

Lagos managed a bumpy but safe landing in hanger, followed closely by the two bikes. Soniee jumped off her swoop and ran to the speeder, blaster in hand, returning the enemy fire.

The duchess held up the comlink and tried to connect. "The transmission is still blocked." She jumped out of speeder and ran, with Korkie quick on her heals to guard her.

Soniee stayed with speeder providing cover fire even as part of her consciousness strove to hold the connection with Korkie. She was aware of Lagos fighting beside her and Amis on the other side of the hanger and Bo-Katan was involved in a battle of her own.

Fear surged around Soniee but she didn't stop firing. She could tell when her bolts met their mark, which they usually did, and she could sense the pain of the soldiers when she hit them. It gave her a curious feeling of ... power. That was almost more frightening than the bolts zipping past her head. Experimentally she drew on the reserve of their pain and felt the transition of her own fear into anger. It was intoxicating.

Then suddenly, like turning off a light, Soniee felt Korkie's consciousness vanish from their connection. "No!" she screamed, the blaster falling from her hand.

"Are you..." Amis heard her and turned to see if she was okay. Then he cried out in pain and fell.

"No!" Soniee screamed again. Her earlier vision came back to her but even clearer in her mind were the positions of the remaining 3 deathwatch assailants. She closed her eyes, drawing on the fear and anger and pain and focusing it into something almost physically tangible. Then she opened her eyes, held up her hands, and unleashed a wave of energy toward the enemies. One was thrown back against the wall with a sickening crack and slid to the floor with arms and legs splayed at impossible angles. The other two looked as if they might have escaped the attack but the jet pack of one of them clipped the edge of the hanger door as he was tossed back and the resulting explosion engulfed them both.

The girl stood panting, numb to the destruction she had just caused. Bo-Katan and Lagos stared at her. Then she blinked and pointed toward their fallen friend. "Amis," She said simply and then turned and ran to find Korkie. She saw him lying on the ground but stopped short when she heard jet packs and voices around the corner.

"Obi-wan, I need your help." The Duchess must have finished her message even as she was surrounded.

Soniee watched from her hiding place. She wanted to blast these soldiers away as she had the others but she didn't trust herself not to hurt the Duchess and her energy seemed to have drained away to nearly nothing.

Two of the warriors grabbed Satine by her arms and prepared to fly her back to her prison cell but first one of them pointed back at Korkie, "Finish him and then follow us."

"Gladly," the third began to saunter toward the fallen young man.

Soniee broke cover then, seemingly weaponless. "You won't touch him," she said, trembling.

"And what are you going to do about it girl?" he laughed.

She couldn't have explained what she did next or how she made it happen but she lifted her hand toward the man and felt the power of her fear and anger and now hate, rise within her again. Without the aid of his jetpack the warrior rose half a meter into the air. He had no control over his assent and Soniee could feel his fear and she fed on it. She clenched her hand and watched his hands struggle helplessly at his throat. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Korkie move and her attention faltered for a split second dropping her victim a few centimeters before she focused on him again with the renewed anger at what he had done and was planning to do to Korkie. "You won't touch him!" she said again, squeezing tighter.

Then a sudden blaster shot put an end the man's suffering.

Soniee looked behind her, saw Bo-Katan pointing the weapon, and then ran to Korkie's side. He was alive, unconscious and bleeding from a blow to the head, but alive. She collapsed to her knees exhausted and laid her head on his chest just happy to hear his heart beating.

"What did you just do?" Bo-Katan asked. Her voice was tinged with horror.

Soniee pressed her eyes shut. She didn't want to think about the fact that she had just killed those men. "I don't know." She whispered. "I have no idea how..."

"You can use the Force." The woman took off her helmet and walked closer but she didn't get too close. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I've never done anything like that before. I've never..." _killed anyone,_ she finished silently. She was trembling harder now and then she sobbed. "Is Amis..." She couldn't say it, but she already knew.

"He's dead." The words hung between them until Bo-Katan spurred herself into action and went to check on her nephew.

"It's all my fault. I knew... I saw..." Soniee sobbed rocking back and forth. "He looked back and they... and then I killed them... I didn't mean to... I don't know how..." She stared at her hands as if she didn't know who they belonged to.

Bo-Katan, satisfied that Korkie was alive, turned to the hysterical girl, grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake. "This is not your fault. You acted on instinct and I believe you probably saved Korkie's life. Now you need to calm down. I don't think anyone who saw you other than us lived to take the story back to Maul but I don't think it would be a good idea for him and his brother to find out what you can do."

Soniee's eyes widened in terror. What if another Force user, a more powerful one, could sense her from kilometers away? And then she heard more jetpacks and she was sure they were there to take her to the Sith Lord.

They were only more of Bo's Night Owls, come to help clean up the mess. "Come on," their leader commanded Soniee and dragged her up to stand. "We've got to get all of you back to the Academy. Tell me. Did the Duchess get her message delivered?"

"Y-yes. I think so. It almost seemed like - like they waited for her to finish before they took her." Soniee watched while a couple of the Night Owl soldiers carefully lifted Korkie onto a stretcher, strapped him down and moved him onto a transport. Then she stumbled as she followed Bo-Katan back into the hanger.

"Of course." The red-head cursed. "She's their bait. Maul wants Kenobi. I should have thought of this before." She cursed again.

Lagos was sitting on the floor cradling Amis's head in her lap. She was singing an old battle song like it was a lullaby, stroking his bald scalp tenderly. She resisted at first when the Night Owls came to carry his body to the transport. She didn't want anyone else to touch him.

Bo-Katan knelt next to her and began to sing the song along with her. Lagos looked up and released her hold on the body. Then she noticed Soniee standing a few meters away. "You..." She whispered and Soniee couldn't tell if it was an accusation or something else. "What you did to them."

"I didn't mean to. I -I couldn't control it."

Lagos stood and watched as Amis's body was carried to the transport and started to follow but first she looked back at Soniee. "I only wish you'd done it sooner."


	9. waiting for Twilight

Get it? cause they're waiting for Obi-wan to show up in the Twilight? har har  
Building up to the tragedy we all know is coming :(

* * *

It didn't make much sense for Korkie to be taken to the Academy's Med center. There was no matron working there anymore, the cots were small, and Soniee who refused to leave his side till he woke, would have had to sit up in one of the uncomfortable visitor chairs. She convinced the Night Owls that it would be better just to bring him to her/their room and lay him in her bed.

The Med center then became the morgue. The bodies of Amis and the two other warriors who had lost their lives in the battle on their side of the fighting were laid out and prepared to be sent home honorably to their clans. Soniee could hear the sound of chanting. It was a song for fallen comrades and she knew the words. Every child raised in a Mandalorian home knew the songs sung to honor the dead.

Soniee didn't feel very Mandalorian at the moment though. She didn't know what she was. As she pulled off her wrist guards and headband and boots, she thought back to the hanger when the Night Owls who came after the battle was over, saw her handiwork. They looked at the crumpled body of the Deathwatch soldier... no not deathwatch, Bo-Katan had corrected her. They weren't Deathwatch anymore but Shadow Collective, with their armor painted in the red and black of the Zabrak Sith, some of them had even adopted his horns on their helmets.

"You're telling me an explosion did this?" one of the Night Owls asked Bo, looking at the unnaturally twisted corpse that Soniee had force thrown against the wall.

"Yes," she had answered them simply and then she had handed Soniee her fallen blaster and told her to get on the swoop and fly back to the Academy, covering the transport that held Korkie.

He was still alive, only unconscious. Soniee checked the bacta patch on his temple that was swiftly repairing the damage from the blow to his head. Then she climbed into the bed beside him, still fully dressed in her armor plated jumpsuit.

She told herself that she would only close her eyes for a moment, that she would stay awake until she knew he was well and she could tell him what happened, but it was probably a couple of hours later when she sensed him stirring and she too woke from a deep sleep.

"Soniee," Korkie breathed her name groggily and reached out her. "What happened?"

For a moment she couldn't answer she was just so glad to hear his voice and feel his arms around her. "Your mother," She began. "She was able to get the message out, we think."

"That's wonderful," he said waking up a little more. "Well then where..."

"They recaptured her." She answered quickly.

"We broke her out of prison once and now that the Jedi know, surely they'll be on their way here."

Soniee nodded. She didn't tell him about Bo-Katan's theory that Maul allowed Satine to contact the Jedi so that he could bait Kenobi. There were tears on her cheeks, however.

"What is it?" Korkie asked, his voice full of concern. "Did something go wrong?"

"It - it's Amis. He..." She swallowed back a sob and tried to finish. "He's..."

Korkie pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh no. No."

She cried silently into his chest for a long while until he tipped her head up and began to kiss away her tears. When his lips finally found hers she could taste the salt. From there, the kisses only became more urgent, more desperate, and then she heard him as clearly as if he had said the words aloud, but he couldn't have because his lips were too busy stringing a line of kisses along her jaw. 'I want to make love to you...'

That word 'want' felt an awful lot like 'need', because she felt it too, the need to feel alive after so much death, the need to feel that there was still light in her after she had called on the darkness. So she whispered in his ear, "Alright."

He didn't question the fact that she had answered his unspoken request. He only pushed her back far enough to look into her eyes and repeated, "Alright? You mean you want to?"

Soniee nodded. "Just ... give me a moment?"

"Of course, whatever you need." He let her go reluctantly and she slipped out of the bed.

She backed away slowly with a nervous smile playing around the corners of her mouth, as if she didn't want to take her eyes off him. When she bumped into the 'fresher door she sighed and said, "I won't be long."

She slipped inside the little room and closed the door behind her only then realizing that she was trembling. She took a deep breath to calm herself but then she was hit with a wave of emotion from Korkie. He wanted her yes but he worried that this was the wrong time or that he was pushing her into something she wasn't truly ready for. She wanted to reassure him.

Soniee closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again she looked at herself in the full length mirror on the back of the 'fresher door. She willed him to see what she was seeing and then she began to undress. She wasn't sure if it would work, if she could actually project her thoughts to him. She removed the armored pieces that covered her chest and belly and back and then with a tremor of nervous shyness began to peal off the skin tight body glove that she had been wearing underneath.

"Krif." She heard his muffled swear from the main room, and then she heard a scuffling that was sure meant that he was also hurrying to remove his clothing before she returned.

Her confidence bolstered, not only by the fact that her little mind trick had worked but also by his reaction to it, Soniee smiled and continued her mental strip tease. That is until she heard a loud 'thump' and peeked her head out the door to see what had happened.

In his hurry to get out of his own jumpsuit, Korkie had fallen out of the bed and onto the floor.

"Are you alright?" She smiled at him.

"I think I'm about to be a whole lot better."

"Not long now." Soniee gave his bared chest an appraising glance before she shut the door again. She didn't bother with the mind trick now she was in too big of a hurry and she knew soon enough he would see the real thing. That thought made her a little shy again so after she was completely undressed, as an afterthought she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. Then just before she opened the door she remembered that box in the med cabinet. How could she forget? She blushed when she remembered all of the other boxes Lagos and Amis had supplied them with. She grabbed one of the strips out of the box and applied it to her upper arm.

Soniee was sure that had it not been for the Force surrounding and connecting them, her first time would not have been nearly so pleasant. They were both awkward and clumsy in their inexperience.

After it was over however, he held her close and whispered sleepily against her hair, "I love you, Soniee Ordo."

She had been wondering who she was. She was loved by Korkie Kryze and for tonight that was enough.

* * *

Soniee's eyes snapped open. Someone was coming. She glanced over at Korkie who still seemed to be sleeping but as soon as she started to get up she could hear his thoughts whispering to her to stay in bed with him.

"Bo and Lagos are coming." She stood and began to look for something she could throw on quickly to wear. She found a pair of his pajamas and began to pull the top on over hear head. She emerged blushing, having witnessed a stream of images and feelings from his mind; a selection of things he would like to do to and for her if she would only lock the door and ignore the interruption.

"Korkie!" She threw the matching pajama pants at him. "I wish you wouldn't think quite so loud."

He gave a satisfied laugh that he had managed to have that effect on her. "Do you really?"

"When I need to have a serious discussion with your aunt, yes." She marched to the door trying to compose herself and opened it a second before Lagos arrived with Bo-Katan a few paces behind her.

Lagos looked slightly startled but then glanced over the state of her friend and gave her a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Soniee asked her seriously.

"I will be." Lagos nodded. "At least I've got something to do about it." She gestured to her new Night Owl uniform and showed off her new helmet. "What about you?" The blond raised an eyebrow at her friend's attire or lack there of. "Please tell me you remembered..."

Soniee raised her sleeve to reveal the patch that was still adhered to her skin.

"Well I should hope so, considering you've got every box in the Academy in there."

A flash of her last conversation with Amis, came to Soniee's mind. She wondered if that meant...

Bo-Katan joined them then, "I guess he's awake, and you told him about..."

"I told him that the Duchess was able to send her message and that she was recaptured." She glanced back into the room and lowered her voice. "I didn't say anything about Maul using her as bait or about what - I did." Then her eyes grew wide and she blushed. "Korkie! Please!" She called back over her shoulder.

"He didn't say anything." Bo-Katan raised an eyebrow.

"He was," Soniee swallowed. "Thinking."

They heard his laugh come from within the room.

Lagos frowned. "You can't read everyone's thoughts like that, can you?"

"No. Feelings sometimes but Korkie is different. I think it might be because his dad is a..." Soniee glanced at Bo-Katan who seemed to be studying her.

"This is exactly why I think the two of you should sit out our next mission." The Night Owl leader informed her. "Lagos has been telling me about when you all tangled with Almec. If he used Korkie against the Duchess before I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. And," She frowned. "As much as I wouldn't mind having a force user on our side, you're too unpredictable at this point to be of any good to us."

Soniee nodded. She knew it was the truth. She didn't even trust herself. She whispered, "Please don't tell Korkie that's why..."

He walked up behind her then, clad in the matching bottoms to her top, and wrapped his arms around her. "Talking about me?"

Bo-Katan gave Soniee an almost imperceptible wink. "Just lamenting your timing, nephew. I can't take my best pilot on our next mission because somebody popped her cherry and now she can't sit astride a speederbike."

Lagos burst out laughing and Soniee blushed crimson. Well, that was one excuse.

Korkie hugged her tighter, protectively. "You don't have to be crass about it! What we've done was..."

"Please, spare me." Bo-Katan rolled her eyes. "You were supposed to be recovering from a concussion."

"What is this mission?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Bo thinks Kenobi might show up soon." Lagos was still smiling. "We're going to watch the space port and see if any unfamiliar ships come in."

"But surely that wouldn't be too strenuous." Korkie complained.

"You two are staying here," Bo-Katan said it as if it were final.

Lagos patted Soniee on her arm where the patch hidden under her sleeve. "Besides this thing should be good for what, another 18 hours or so?"

Korkie broke into a grin.

"Ugg," Bo-Katan turned and strode off down the hall. "Don't give them any ideas."

"Have fun!" Lagos skipped off after her new leader, ready to prove herself.


	10. the arrival of Twilight

Thank you Brooke Vengence and DragonKey27 for following, Brooke Vengence and Epic Zealot Productions for favoriting, and TrinityWrites and guest for your reviews! You encourage me to keep going!

i can't tell you how many times i watched the episode Lawless to try to get the sequence of events right for these chapters. i've written in Lagos as one of the Night Owls who was with Bo-Katan when she sees the Twilight arrive.

* * *

It was funny how Soniee felt safe here, under 2 tons of metal with a questionable repulsor lift. She had spent the rest of the morning with Korkie and then convinced him after the mid-day meal that they really should be doing something beneficial to the cause. They hadn't heard anything back yet from the small group Bo-Katan had led to watch the space docks.

Soniee had taken it upon herself to make sure that any transports that they needed would be ready when the time came. She started with the two swoops, both of which were now purring like Loth kittens. Then she had turned her attention to the speeder which had been damaged in the escape attempt. It had been towed back here to the garage and was proving to be more of a challenge.

It was a challenge she welcomed, however. Along with the music thrumming in her headphones, the job was a great distraction. She tipped down her faithful old visor on which she had pulled up the speeder's schematics, and then took another look at the machine's innards. It was not such a distraction that she didn't notice the footsteps of someone entering the garage. She smiled at Korkie's quiet approach but pretended not to notice and kept working.

Once he found her, or rather her legs which were the only part of her not buried under the speeder, he just sat on the ground and watched for a while. She liked this, working, listening to her songs, and having him close to her. One of her feet tapped in time to the rhythm of the music but this must have been too great a temptation to him.

His hand reached out to caress the calf of her left leg. She stopped tapping, her toes curling slightly inside her boot and she turned down her music. Inching slowly higher, his fingers traced lazy patterns through the fabric of her coveralls up to her knee.

"Korkie," she tried to admonish him but it came out has half a gasp so he just chuckled.

"I was getting bored, thought I'd come and find you."

She slid out from under the speeder but stayed laying on her back looking up at him. "I got the bikes tuned up and I'm almost done here."

"Glad one of us had something to do to keep busy. I've just been thinking."

"Oh, that could be dangerous," Soniee teased. "What were you thinking about?"

"Well." He took a deep breath and looked more serious than she had expected. "My dad is on his way to rescue my mother. And we've already been reunited with my aunt. It seems like maybe we might get to be like a real family."

Soniee bit her lip. She wasn't sure if that would ever be possible. There were secrets that had been kept so long. And they still had powerful enemies...

"I just," he continued. "I want you to be part of that, Soniee." He took her hand in his.

"Of course, we'll be..."

He looked directly, intensely into her eyes, making her forget what she was going to say. "Marry me."

"What?" She sat up quickly unbalancing the repulsor cart and plopping down on the hard floor next to him. "Wait. What are you saying?"

"I'm saying." he cleared his throat and as he continued he became more confident. "That I love you and you love me." He smiled charmingly. "And I don't want to make the same mistakes my parent's made."

"No?" she squeaked, getting up to her feet. "I'm sure we'll make far stupider ones."

He stood also and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You remember the looks on their faces from that old holo when they had to be separated from each other. And they've spent all these years lonely and apart. I don't want that to be us."

Of course she remembered that holo. She remembered wondering if a boy would ever look at her like... well like Korkie was looking at her now. "Korkie, I'm not going anywhere. I - but - married? We haven't even graduated."

"Who knows if we ever will, with the Academy being closed."

"I'm not even sure if we could legally. We're not old enough. We'd have to get Clan Ordo's permission and..."

He grinned at her.

"What?" she asked.

"If you're calculating the logistics, you're considering the possibility."

Soniee sighed and tried to look anywhere but at his face. Growing up as orphans, the idea of having a real family had always excited both of them.

"Now what are you thinking about?" Korkie asked her.

"I." She reached out and touched his throat gently. "I'm remembering the time Prime Minister Almec put a shock collar around your neck to try to get your mother to sign a confession."

He took her hand in his and kissed her palm.

"There's a reason that your mother hid you away." She continued. "She knew your connection to her put you in danger. If we..." She swallowed. "If our enemies knew... They could use us against each other."

Korkie put a finger to her lips. "I would never let anything happen to you."

Soniee closed her eyes, remembering the lengths she had gone to just the day before when she thought his life was in danger. Even at the thought of it, the air seemed to crackle with electricity around them. She could feel that dark energy pulsing in her veins. Then he was kissing her and she was passionately kissing him back with a surge of fear at the thought of losing him.

Then there was a sound of Jetpacks approaching and Soniee realized just in time who it was before she broke away from the kiss and blasted them out of the sky. She was panting and trembling with the pent up energy when Bo and Lagos and the other Night Owl landed a few meters away.

"Looks like they're still at it." Lagos removed her helmet. "Thought you two would have gotten at least some of it out of your system before we got back."

Soniee couldn't speak. She stepped a few paces away and tried to calm the roaring inside of herself. Korkie turned to follow her, worried, but she waved him away. Instead he looked at Bo-Katan and asked, "Is he here? Did he get the message?"

She took off her helmet and nodded. "Don't know what he was thinking about coming in that ship but, yeah he's here."

It must have been her imagination, Soniee thought as she kept her back to the others and watched her own hands. Sparks seemed to be dancing between her fingertips. She tried to keep her voice level as she asked, "What's wrong with his ship?"

"What's not wrong with it would be a much shorter list." Lagos chuckled darkly.

Bo-Katan agreed, "It's amazing he made it here from Coruscant in the thing."

"But he did. He's here. You're sure it was him?" Korkie asked excitedly.

"It was Kenobi alright. He knocked out one of those Shadow Collective idiots and stole his armor. He'll probably have an easier time getting up to Satine's cell than we did."

Soniee took another deep breath calming breath and then turned to face the others. She kept her hands behind her back. "What about the ship though? Do you think he has an exit strategy?"

Bo nodded at her. "I'd like to have one of our Kom'rk-class fighters ready to go in case they need a fast way offworld."

Hopeful that her hands were no longer sparking, Soniee stepped back into the circle and took Korkie's hand in hers. "Sounds like a way I could make myself useful?"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Bo-Katan clapped her on the shoulder. "And we should head out to the hanger fairly soon."

"Alright, I just need to tighten a few bolts on the speeder here and then I'll be ready to go."

Korkie followed her back toward her project while Bo and Lagos headed into the Academy building. "Now I just wish I could find a way to be useful," he mumbled.

"You're useful to me." Soniee kissed him on the cheek before she lowered herself back down to the hovercart and slid under the speeder.

He shook his head. "Well that's something I suppose." His hand resumed massaging her calf. "I'll miss you though."

Soniee laughed. "I'm just going to get the ship ready. They probably won't even need it. It's not like I'm going off world or anything."

"Just promise me you'll be thinking about what I said."

She slid out from under the speeder once more so she could smile at him. "Of course I will."


	11. Twilight falls

we have come to the end of "Lawless" :( except for that epic sith lord lightsaber battle but who really cares about that, right?  
BUT this will not be the end of the fic! read the notes at the end!

* * *

"Now are you sure you can fly one of these things?" Bo-Katan asked her.

Soniee grinned. "Are you kidding?" The truth was being back in the cockpit of a Kom'rk-class fighter felt like coming home. "Mom used to take contract work from MandalMotors doing mods on these. I would sit on her lap when we were ferrying them back and forth to the factory in Keldabe."

"Guess you're the right one for the job then."

"We still don't know if they're going to need it though, right?" Soniee asked. "If Kenobi can get the Duchess to a safe area or off Mandalore in his own ship then I'll just be sitting here."

"That's the best case scenario, yes. But, I need you ready to drop this ship off for them at the closest hanger if they need it. I'll comm you and let you know."

"I'll be here." Soniee ran a hand over the console. She'd actually be a bit disappointed if she didn't get to take it in the air. Oh well, surely there would be time for that later on.

"Hey Ordo!" Bo-Katan called before she descended the ramp. "Got something for you. Didn't think you were interested in the full armor but since you can't seem to keep your head down, gotta protect it for my nephew's sake." She tossed Soniee a vaguely spherical object.

When the younger girl reached out and easily caught it she found it to be a helmet similar to those worn by the Night Owls. It was painted in green and white with the symbol of her adopted clan above the visor. Soniee looked up to say thank you but Bo had already hurried away on her own mission.

And then all she had to do was sit and wait. As she had promised, she thought about what Korkie had asked her. Was he right? Had she been considering the possibility of their being married while she was claiming that it was impossible? Even now, alone in the cockpit of the fighter, she blushed slightly at the idea.

Surely if Duchess Satine gave her approval, Clan Ordo would agree. Would there be time to ask her while she and Kenobi were making their escape? They would understand, wouldn't they, what it was like to be young and in love in time of war?

Lost in daydreams, Soniee had no idea how much time had passed before the light blinked on the console with Bo's comm. When the Night Owl spoke it was difficult to hear over... was that blaster fire, jetpacks, rockets, or all three? "Ordo! Get in the air and go a head and program the computer for a hyperjump toward the Core!"

That was it, no waiting for a response or a question. It didn't sound good. Soniee obeyed but fear gripped her as she eased the Kom'rk out into the Sundari skyways. There were warriors everywhere, battling in the sky and on landing platforms all over the city. She stayed out of the line of fire and worked on the calculations for the first necessary jump that would take the ship toward Coruscant.

She wouldn't be going with it. That wasn't the plan. She was only supposed to drop off the ship for Kenobi and the Duchess and then... what was her own extraction plan?

"Coordinates for the hanger!" Snapped Bo-Katan's voice over the comm between screams of blaster fire and an explosion. Soniee saw the data come in and didn't hesitate to make for that point. She was in the midst of the fighting now, her vision through the cockpit window almost completely obscured by smoke and hyphens of laser bolts.

"The plan has changed! You have to get Kenobi to Coruscant!"

"What? Kenobi? What about the Duchess?" Soniee tried to ask but there was no response and then just in front of her another fighter exploded and spun down toward the planet's surface. Keeping her wits about her she hovered over the landing pad, and turned to lower the ramp.

She heard bits of conversation through the still open comm channel. "Mandalore will survive! We always survive!"

And then another voice, soft and sad. "You're Satine's sister aren't you? I'm so sorry."

Soniee gasped but she did the only thing she could do. As soon as her single passenger was inside, she raised the ramp and flew up and away as fast as the Kom'rk would carry them.

* * *

Notes: That was kind of short. but. hey. listen. I got to watch a couple of the streaming panels from Celebration. The Ahsoka Untold Tales Panel gave more info on the Siege of Mandalore! and Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler if you haven't seen the season 3 rebels preview you must! Sabine has the dark saber! plus new info about the planet from Rogue One! So i'm totally excited about taking Soniee on lots of new adventures.  
including but not limited to some of these:  
obi wan  
coruscant  
barriss offee  
temple bombing  
ahsoka  
concord dawn

momma ordo  
back to sundari  
siege of mandalore  
order 66  
onderon  
demon moon  
freedon nadd  
saw's partisans  
maz's castle  
agent kallus  
jedha  
rebellion  
wedge  
norra wexley  
so talk to me peeps! review and tell me where you'd like to see Soniee go next! and thank you everybody who has read, favorited, followed, and reviewed so far!


	12. hyperspace

missing scene between the episodes Lawless and Sabotage. In the show we see Obi-wan leave Mandalore and then the next time we see him he's in the Council chambers. Always the patient Jedi Master even after everything he's been through.

* * *

It crashed over her like a wave, ice cold fury, fear, jealousy, agony. Something evil was battling in Sundari, evil and powerful. It was fueling the battles all over the city and even as Soniee rose through the atmosphere further from the surface, she felt it fueling something within herself as well.

She was angry, more than angry. She glanced over at the helmet in the co-pilot's seat. Bo-Katan had lied to her. She never meant for Soniee to come back to the Academy after this mission. She was trying to get rid of her. Soniee was a force user. They didn't trust her. She was unpredictable. They were afraid of her, afraid that she would lead Maul right to them.

She felt guilty and scared. Maybe she would have led the Sith to her friends. Still she wished she could be with Korkie right now. Who would tell him about his mother? Who would comfort him?

Then the anger returned, a spike of white hot hatred. Her passenger, that man, that Jedi hadn't been powerful enough to save the Duchess. Obi-wan Kenobi had as good as killed her himself.

Some primal survival instinct allowed Soniee to secure the fighter in orbit before she took her hands off the controls and then she stood and turned to face the cabin. Almost blind with rage she raised her hands and the door swished open. She felt the electricity dancing between her fingers and she was prepared to send the Jedi a blast of the only thing he deserved, vengeance.

And then, he was standing directly in front of her. His hands were clamped around both of her wrists. She slumped forward, panting as the powerful emotions drained from her, leaving her feeling weak. "I'm - so sorry, Master Kenobi. I - don't know - I didn't mean..."

"It's alright. I felt it too." He kept a hold of her to steady her. "I thought for a moment that they had sent someone here to finish me off but I don't believe that was your intention. You were only caught up in it. Am I correct?"

Soniee nodded. The waterworks burst forth then, tears and wracking sobs and before the poor man could do anything to object she threw her arms around him and hugged him. "We tried... and... I'm so sorry... I know it wasn't your fault. But Korkie..." She hiccuped a sob. "I should be with him when he finds out his mother..." She stopped, suddenly frozen, shaken only by another hiccup.

Kenobi gingerly returned her hug and then politely set her back at a short distance once again. "You mean he thought of Satine as his mother?"

"Y-yes?" Soniee wobbled.

"The news will be very hard on him I'm sure. You're a friend of his?"

"I am - was a student at the Academy. We, Korkie and I and a couple of the others were working with Bo-Katan to... help... but this must be terrible for you too," She wiped her tears on the sleeve of her coveralls, smearing a spot of grease from her cheek across the bridge of her nose. "You'll do some sort of Jedi thing to lock it away but... you did love her."

He cleared his throat and looked out the cockpit window. He wasn't looking at Concordia as it came into view in their orbit, but somewhere far beyond it.

Then she remembered, "Coruscant! I'm supposed to get you there." Soniee plopped down into her pilot's chair, finished her hyperjump calculations, and engaged the engine. The stars stretched into the blue of hyperspace and she sat silently, reveling in the quiet after the cacophony of thoughts and emotions that were especially heightened in the battle that was still raging on Mandalore.

As she looked out she noticed the reflection of her passenger. He was stroking his beard and thinking. It made her smile sadly, reminding her so much of Korkie. She pushed back the thought wondering how much the Jedi Master could pluck from her mind and feeling that it wasn't her place to reveal the secret if the Duchess herself hadn't seen fit.

She got a glimpse at her own reflection then. Soniee scrubbed at the grease on her nose with her sleeve. She must look very young to the Jedi in her oversized coveralls. She wondered if he trusted her skills as a pilot. She was around the same age as Ahsoka though and the Padawn was a commander in the Grand Army of the Republic.

"H-how's Padawan Ahsoka?" she asked in an attempt at conversation.

Kenobi frowned for a moment bringing his thoughts back to her question. "She's well, I assume. On assignment with Anakin and the 501st."

Soniee guessed that Anakin was General Skywalker but she wasn't sure about the 501st. He seemed distracted. Well of course he was distracted.

He looked curiously at her then. "You were in the class she came to instruct?"

She nodded. "My name is Soniee."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. She didn't say anything about there being a force user among her students."

"I had never told anyone." She suddenly felt shy.

"Surely she would have noticed. You seem to have an exceptional amount of power for one, untrained?"

"Well I-I've always been able to - move things." She waved a hand at the co-pilot's chair and it spun in a full turn. "And I can sense feelings and thoughts sometimes..."

"Especially people you are close to?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded again feeling a little more confident. "Sometimes it's so loud in my head. It's overwhelming, all the sensations, all the emotions. Out here it's nice though, quiet."

A smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. "I can imagine in an Academy full of adolescent hormones how that could be quite distracting."

Soniee blushed. "It's been awful though, since all the trouble began. The people of Sundari in the streets, the mobs, the deathwatch, Viszla and then those," She looked up at him unsure of what his reaction would be to the word. "Sith?"

"Yes." Kenobi began to pace the small cockpit. "Might I guess that you had never used your powers for attack until they arrived?"

Soniee shook her head. She hadn't made that connection before. "No never before then."

"And you hurt someone?"

"They killed Amis! They would have killed Korkie!" She would do it again if it meant saving them.

A look of somber understanding came into his eyes. "You drew on your fear and your anger to protect your friends." It was more of a statement than a question. Then he surprised her by kneeling in front of her chair and taking her hand. "You called on the Dark Side of the Force. If you had been trained in the Temple you would have known how very dangerous that is."

She nodded, tears filling her eyes again.

"Now, it's not your fault. You can still be taught to resist the Dark Side and you can learn to control the sensations that overwhelm your mind." There was a very familiar look in his eyes as he blanketed her mind with a sense of calm.

"Korkie helped me control it sometimes."

He stood, seemingly intrigued. "Yet, the young man has no Force abilities of his own?"

"N-no," she said treading carefully around the subject. "But it could have been in his family."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well he, he never met his father. I suppose it's possible..."

Kenobi gave her a searching look but he didn't pursue the question any longer and returned to the original subject. "If you are close to the boy it's possible that your ability to focus on him is what gave you a measure of control over the outside stimulation."

She blushed again thinking of just how close she and 'the boy' had become in just the past 24 hours. "Yes, I suppose that's possible."

The Jedi Master raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. I think it's time you learned to meditate properly. How long till we drop out of hyperspace?"

Soniee looked at the console "Two point three seven..."

"We should be able to make a good start of it then. Come on." Kenobi beckoned for her to follow him into the cabin.

She watched him go and then looked back at the console and out the window. "But what if we're still practicing when we reach real space?"

"Did you do the calculations correctly?"

"Yes, of course but..." She worried. She was thinking of the story she had been told of her birth mother dropping out of hyperspace into a firefight.

"Then we'll just have to be mindful of our surroundings while we're meditating. That is an important part of the process."

She took a deep breath and then followed him into the cabin. "Alright."

He sat on the floor with legs crossed and gestured for her to do the same.

She lowered herself and tried to copy his serene posture, with hands rested lightly on her knees. Her fingers fidgeted and she tried attempted to still them.

"Now close your eyes and clear your mind." He instructed. "You must be mindful but empty, like a cup to be filled."

Mindful but mind empty? Yeah, that made sense. He might as well have told her not to think about a raging bantha in the room.

She did try, but as soon as her mind had calmed somewhat her fingers set up a mad tattoo against her knee once again. She heaved an impatient sigh and opened one eye to look at the Master.

His eyes were still closed but he was smiling. "I've seen some of the Jedi at the temple hold a strand of beads or a logic puzzle to manipulate with their hands to let their minds focus more freely."

Both her eyes snapped open. "That sounds like it would be so much easier. I've always been able to focus better when I have something to keep my hands busy..."

"Unfortunately we have neither of those things with us at the moment so you're going to have to practice without them." He gave her a quick wink before the emotion dropped from his expression once again.

"Yes Master." The expression fell so easily from her lips even though he was not her master and she was not his padawan. After that however they both relaxed a bit more into the lesson. She closed her eyes and her breathing became more measured.

"Now," he said quietly. "Repeat after me: There is no emotion, there is peace."

Soniee repeated the words and though they had no power in themselves, she did begin to sense the Force swirling around her like a warm breeze.

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."

Kenobi continued to lead her through the tenants of the Jedi Code.

"There is no passion, there is serenity."

Soniee shivered remembering the passion that had seemed to overtake her when she had accidentally called on the dark side of the Force. There was still power in the serenity, she realized, and she allowed it to surround her.

"There is no chaos, there is harmony."

She thought of the people chanting in the streets of Sundari. There had been a kind of music to it. Could she use that comparison to still her mind when faced with the crowds on Coruscant?

"There is no death..." He faltered on the word and Soniee knew he was thinking of Duchess Satine.

With her eyes still closed and not entirely sure why she was doing it, she raised her hand toward him and caught his hand in the space between them. She had wanted to be with Korkie to comfort him in his time of sorrow but now she knew that she had been led to exactly the place and time where she was needed most.

With hands clasped they finished the words in unison, "There is the Force."


	13. the Temple

Obi-wan and Soniee land on Coruscant arrive at the Temple. He has a request to make of her, she sends a comm back home to Mandalore, and what's Barris Offee doing skulking around the hanger?

* * *

They survived the drop to sub-light speed and Master Kenobi contacted the Jedi Temple to let the Masters know he was on the way. Then Soniee got her first look at the planet-wide city that was Coruscant.

"There is no chaos..." He reminded her with a hand placed on her shoulder.

She gave a shaky sigh and finished, "There is harmony." But even with the mantra and his help to shield her mind from the onslaught, it was still overwhelming to feel the force signature of a trillion beings living and working and playing on the surface and under the surface below them. She knew it wasn't very 'Jedi' of her but Soniee remembered what Kenobi had said about how she had in the past, before she knew what she was doing, gained a measure of control from focusing on Korkie. That is what she fell back into now.

She felt her cheeks grow warm as she remembered the boy coming up behind her the morning before their attempted rescue of the Duchess. He had put his hands on her waist and said, "You're going to be amazing because you're always amazing." And it did help. She loved him.

Kenobi gave her directions for which skyways to follow but weaving in and out of the flow of traffic was really the easy part.

"It's beautiful." She smiled when the Temple itself finally came into view.

"It is, isn't it? I grew up here. I honestly haven't taken the opportunity to see the majesty of it for some time." He seemed lost in his appreciation for the buildings for a moment. "Well, I suppose I should let them know we're coming." He commed the Temple hanger, gave them a series of codes and then received the instructions for landing.

Soniee guided the fighter into the landing bay. As soon as they had crossed the threshold into the Temple building she felt the change in the atmosphere. She took a deep breath and the worried tension eased from her muscles. She turned to Kenobi with an amazed smile. "It's so calm. I can still sense thousands of beings living and working... but they're so..."

He nodded with a smile of his own. "It's like a sanctuary or an oasis. Yes. For me this is coming home."

As she pulled the fighter aside into a designated parking area, Soniee wondered if she could have ever called this place home. But no. She shook her head and powered down the engines. Mandalore was home. Korkie was home. She turned in her seat again to face the Jedi. "What happens now? You'll tell the council about what's going on? They'll send someone to help us?"

"Actually," he began with a sigh that surely meant he was going to ask her to do something. "I think it would be helpful if you would tell the council what's going on in Sundari."

"Me?" she very nearly squeaked. "But I'm just the pilot. This is your mission. I'm ... I've got to get back."

"Soniee, I was only on Mandalore for a few hours. You've experienced the whole takeover first hand. If the council is going to make a decision they are going to need more information than I have to give them."

She started to protest again but he held up a hand and continued, "You are a student of the Royal Academy of Government and as such have been trained as a diplomat. There is no one better qualified to bring your case before the Council."

"But I haven't prepared anything and - and Korkie was the orator, I just did the research and..." Even as she tried to come up with more excuses her brain was beginning to compile the sequence of events that she would have to describe to the group of Masters that made up the ruling council of the Jedi Order. "I couldn't possibly go before them looking like this." She finished lamely.

Kenobi smiled at her in an encouraging, fatherly sort of way. "I'll find one of the Padawans to lead you to a place where you can get cleaned up and find some clothes for you to borrow. And then I'll go to the council first and make your introductions. Don't worry." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be with you the whole time."

She nodded.

He looked out the window. "It looks like there may be a Padawan already here to meet us who could help you find everything you need."

Soniee looked out as well. There was a girl there, a little older than herself, with green tinged skin and a sprinkling of black diamonds across her cheeks. "Could I have just a moment to try to send a comm back home? I don't know if it will still be blocked but - I'd like to try to let them know we got here safely."

"Of course." Master Kenobi winked at her and then left the cockpit and descended the ramp to the hanger floor.

She watched him out the window, walk over to the green-skinned girl in the black cape and hood while she tried to think of where exactly she should send the comm and what she should say.

Korkie's personal comm link he had given to his mother. It had been destroyed or taken by the Shadow Collective soldiers. She could send the comm to the Academy. All outside messages were supposed to go through the office and then get patched into the common room units with an instructors permission. But Soniee had gotten around that ages ago. When she was a third year an older student had paid her to hack the unit so she could receive private messages in her own dorm room. Soniee had never tried to splice the lines from this end though. She was sure she could do it and after considering another moment decided to try to send the comm to her own dorm room. Korkie had moved all of his things there and it was more likely that he would get the message himself there than if she sent it to the common room where any of the Night Owls or Bo-Katan or Lagos would get it first.

She typed the codes into the ship's net link. It went through right away but no one was in the room to receive it. She'd have to leave a message and hope he would check it soon.

"Korkie," she began. "You don't know how badly I wish I could be with you right now. Or I don't know maybe you do. I wanted to be with you when you learned about your mother... It breaks my heart. Kenobi too, though he hides it well. He's an incredible man. His humor and his compassion remind me so much of you. He was teaching me how to meditate on the way here." She took a breath. "And that's what I commed to tell you. We've made it safely here to Coruscant. We're going to go before the Council and ask them for help. That's right I said 'we'. He says I have to address them, that I'm better qualified to explain everything that's been going on than he is. I'm nervous. I wish you were here. And..."

Soniee bit her lip closed her eyes and then plunged on. "Y-yes... I want to marry you. We might be young but still we have no idea how much time we have and... I want to spend that time with you. So when I get back, and I hope that will be very soon, we can have some kind of ceremony or just say the words to each other." She laughed. "I don't care. I just want for us to belong to each other."

She took another deep breath. "Well I had better go and get this over with so I can come home to you. Korkie, I - I love you." She ended the comm and blinked away the tears of sadness and joy that had gathered in her lashes.

She was sure she looked ever more a sight now but Master Kenobi had promised her a chance to get cleaned up before she had to go in front of the council. She just wished she had one of those Jedi cloaks to hide under until then. She could always wear her helmet. She picked it up and her display visor that she remembered she had uploaded a lot of the recent news holos to before she left. That might come in useful when she was speaking to the council. Then she worked up her courage and left the ship.

"And here she is," Master Kenobi smiled as his pilot descended the ramp. The green-skinned girl did not smile. "Padawan Barris Offee this is Soniee Ordo."

Soniee bowed her head slightly at the introduction. "It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." It didn't sound like it. "You can call me Barris."

Soniee got the distinct impression that Barris had not been there to meet them at all.

"Well then." Kenobi clapped his hands together. "I'll leave you to it. Barris if you could please tend to our guest's needs and then show her up to the Council chambers?"

"Of course Master Obi-wan." She nodded respectfully.

He turned to Soniee. "And I shall see you soon." He smiled. "You'll be just fine."

"Thank you." She watched him go.

"Come along, if you please," Barris instructed her.

Soniee hurried to follow. When she caught up to the other girl's longer stride, she spoke apologetically. "I'm sorry if we interrupted you. I didn't know myself that I was going to have to stay. I'm sure you were doing something important."

Barris stopped and sighed. "No, I wasn't. I should apologize." She smiled, which brightened her whole face. "You're our guest and I'm glad to help."

"You're sure? Because if you were busy I'm sure someone else could..."

"Absolutely sure." Barris interrupted her objection. "You're meeting with the Council?"

Soniee grinned sheepishly. "I'm terrified."

"They can be rather intimidating, but come on. You'll feel better after you've cleaned up and I'll try to fill you in a bit on what to expect."

"Thank you." Soniee still wasn't quite sure what to make of the Padawan but she was glad to have someone near her own age to help prepare her for what was to come.


	14. changed for good

If obitine gets Moulin Rouge then I think the green girl should get a Wicked reference...

I've heard it said  
That people come into our lives for a reason  
Bringing something we must learn  
And we are led  
To those who help us most to grow  
If we let them  
And we help them in return  
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true  
But I know I'm who I am today  
Because I knew you...  
Like a comet pulled from orbit  
As it passes a sun  
Like a stream that meets a boulder  
Halfway through the wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you  
I have been changed for good

* * *

"There now. Does that feel better?" Barris asked her almost half an hour later when Soniee exited the 'fresher with hair wet from her shower and wearing borrowed leggings and tunic.

"Yes, quite." She sighed. "I must look a bit more like I belong here." The outfit was the color and style worn by many of the padawans and and knights. "And I've been thinking about what I need to tell the council. Can I borrow a datapad to get down some notes?" Soniee's hands went to her wet hair and she started to twist it up into a knot at the back of her head.

Barris stopped her. "Here." She handed Soniee a datapad. "You sit and I'll do your hair."

"Thank you," Soniee smiled and sat. She took the pad and started typing right away. Then she stopped again and mused, "You know when I was a kid I was always worried that the Jedi would come and take me away from my clan to raise me here at the temple."

"Why would you..." the padawan began but then it dawned on her. "You're force sensitive."

Soniee nodded. "Family and raising children the Mandalorian way is very important to my people. They would never send a child away to be 'brainwashed by that cult'." She frowned. "I'm sorry. I suppose that's terribly offensive."

"No, not really." Barris assured her. "I'm sure a lot of people feel that way."

"I wouldn't mind so much now, I think, since I met Ahsoka and Master Kenobi and you. Master Kenobi was teaching me a bit about meditation on the way here. It did help me feel more focused. I can definitely see the benefit of being taught what to do with ones powers."

Barris dangled the section of hair she was braiding down between Soniee's eyes and said sarcastically, "Why don't I just chop this short then? I can leave you a padawan braid and when you speak to the Masters you can convince one of them to train you."

They both laughed. "I'm probably a little to old to be just starting out."

"Oh, Master Obi-wan might train you. He's always been rather unconventional and he hasn't taken on a new padawan since General Skywalker was knighted."

Soniee giggled. "From what I hear he still has his hands full with General Skywalker."

Barris laughed too.

"Besides. I," Soniee blushed. "I have another reason why a can't ever be officially a Jedi."

"Do tell." Barris tilted Soniee's head gently as she began to pin the braids in place. "But hold still."

"Well there's a boy," She did try to hold still but she thought she might have been trembling because Barris was the first person she'd told. "or a young man rather, back on Mandalore who asked me to marry him. Ow." There was a brief stab of discomfort when one of Barris's hair pins poked her scalp.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say to him?"

"It's alright." Soniee smiled. "Just before I met you, I sent him a comm from the ship. I said, 'yes.'"

"That's very exciting," the green-skinned girl said in her same mild tone. "I'm sure he was thrilled with your answer."

"I wish I knew." Soniee shrugged and Barris put a hand on her shoulder to keep her still. "I had to leave a message. More than anything now I want to go back to the ship and see if he's sent me a comm back."

"Back to your ship?" Barris stepped back. There was a different note in her voice now. Soniee sensed something. Was it worry? "Your ship in the hanger?"

"Well yes." Soniee turned to look at the other girl curiously.

"It's just." Barris calmed almost instantly and turned Soniee back around to finish her work. "The hanger is such a long way for you to walk. You'd be welcome to use my commlink right here."

"Thank you. Thank you for everything." Soniee sighed and then held up the datapad so she could see it and continue to keep her head still for her friend's work. "I should probably get this finished first."

"Whatever you need." The smile returned to Barris's voice. "Just be still until I say and then you'll look beautiful for your holo."

 _She had almost thought she could go through with it. The girl had the perfect motive. The council had failed to protect her Duchess and she'd come here in a Deathwatch fighter of all things, a Deathwatch fighter that was now sitting in the hanger that was already scheduled to be destroyed._

 _Barris had already passed the nano droids to Letta. She'd shown the woman how to feed them to her husband. She knew the man worked in the hanger. The only thing she didn't know was when it would happen. Soon._

 _And now she'd practically been handed the chance to make an even bigger statement. This girl, this pilot of the Deathwatch fighter was going before the council. They would all be there, well most of them. How easy it would be to feed the girl a few more of the nano droids, send her into the very council chamber as a second incendiary. No one would question a Mandalorian seeking vengeance for the council's failure._

 _But then, she couldn't do it. This girl who had grown up force-sensitive without the tampering of the Jedi Order, this beautiful girl who had only just accepted the proposal of her true love; she deserved to live. There had been, there would be enough blood on Barris's hands. She would save this one girl. Now she just had to keep her from going back to the hanger and not let her suspect..._

The comm came from Master Kenobi before Soniee had a chance to comm Korkie again. She had just finished going through her notes and checked her display visor to make sure she had the vids she wanted to share with the council members. "They'll have something I can plug this into in the council chamber won't they?" she asked Barris holding up the visor.

"They should." She frowned. "They do their battle planning in there some of the time."

Soniee studied the older girl. "You don't like that the Jedi have become generals in the war."

"No. No, I don't."

"I don't like it either." Soniee nodded. "I grew up hearing the New Mandalorian teachings on pacifism. It doesn't seem right for the peacekeepers to have to fight. But," that was exactly what she was going to ask them to do. "I still hope they'll help my people."

Barris smiled a little sadly. "Well if the presentation you've prepared is as good as I think it is you should have very little trouble with that. Come on. They're waiting for you."

They walked silently from the padawan's dormitories all the way up to the top of the northwestern tower. It was only when they were standing before the door of the council chamber that Barris spoke. She gently took hold of the younger girl's shoulders. "You're going to be just fine. Just... when you're done here don't... go to your ship and fly off right away."

Soniee frowned, "You don't want me too..." But she wasn't allowed to finish.

Just then Barris leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. Soniee was speechless as the other girl turned and hurried away. She was sure the Barris understood that she was going to be married. Or maybe she was misinterpreting and this was just some sort of good luck gesture in her culture. Her words, though, had sounded more like a warning but a warning of what?

She didn't have time to dwell on the strange goodbye. The panel next to the door chimed and a solemn voice called to her. "Miss Ordo, please enter."


	15. the council

I've been looking forward to this one for a while. It's fun to get to speak in the voices of such recognizable characters and hear their dialogue in my head. But you can tell me if you think i've got it right. (in other words: review!)

* * *

The door swished open and Soniee entered the High Council chamber. The round room had windows all around that let in the light of the setting sun. She stepped forward and though Barris had instructed her to address herself foremost to the small green being who was Grand Master Yoda, she first acknowledged all the other attending Masters.

She wished she'd had more experience dealing with exotic species. Her Mandalorian upbringing left her very unfamiliar with non-humans. She was not speciesest. She'd gotten along fine with Barris. Her green skinned hands had been very gentle as she had braided Soniee's hair, and the Mirialan's lips had been very soft against her cheek. It made her wonder... But that was neither here nor there and certainly wasn't helping her get back to her people, back to Korkie.

Still Soniee was unsure what sort of expression the thick beard of the Thisspiasian master might conceal. The Nautolan Master in contrast had a smile that lit up the room and the Togruta female who was only present in holographic form appeared warm and welcoming. She nodded to each of them in turn, "Good afternoon, Masters. I thank you for allowing me to bring forward my case."

Master Kenobi gave her an encouraging wink. She was glad he was sitting just one seat to Master Yoda's right, though she hadn't sensed anything but polite interest from any of the others.

It wasn't Yoda who spoke to her first, however, it was the dark skinned human sitting at the Grand Master's left. "Welcome, Miss Ordo. I am Master Windu. Master Obi-wan has just been telling us about the unfortunate passing of your Duchess Satine. May we offer our condolences."

Though she didn't think 'unfortunate passing' quite expressed the brutal murder Obi-wan had witnessed, she nodded her thanks for the words.

"We understand that you and a few of your fellow Academy cadets were very close to the Duchess?" Master Windu asked.

"Yes." Soniee nodded. "The Duchess's nephew is a ... friend of mine. He and I and a couple of others once before helped to rescue Her Grace from a threat under the leadership of Padawan Tano."

The Kel Dorian Master, with his unreadable mask, leaned over to Master Windu and whispered something to him.

Windu nodded and continued. "Will you please fill us in on what has been happening in Sundari in the past few weeks?"

"Yes, Master Windu." She glanced at Master Kenobi and held up her display visor. "I have a few holos recorded here that would help me to illustrate the events."

Finally the diminutive Grand Master spoke and though she had been warned of his curious grammatical structure it still took her off guard for a moment. "Well prepared, you are, Miss Ordo." His approval of her was clear and comforting. "The technology you seek, in the arm of that seat you will find."

"Thank you." She smiled at the praise and then turned to the empty chair behind her and opened the panel on the arm.

"Would you like any help making the connection?" The Kel Dorian's muffled voice asked.

Soniee looked up at him and remembered Ahsoka saying something about the kind Master who had found her and brought her to the temple as a child. "No thank you, Master Plo Koon." Despite the mask she thought he might have been smiling at her.

There was thankfully a cable that was compatible with her display unit and she made short work of hooking it up and making it ready for the first holo she would show them. Then she turned again to face them with a smile of relief at her success so far. She addressed them all more confidently now, though her hands still twisted agitatedly in front of her. "It was a few weeks ago when we first started hearing about the attacks throughout the city from various crime factions. The Royal Academy was put on lockdown to protect the students and all of our incoming and outgoing communications were blocked. It was maddening not to know what was going on." She blushed thinking the turn of phrase must have made her appear less professional but she didn't get any sense that the assembled Masters thought any worse of her.

"I was able to splice into our common room holo projector so we could get the news. I'll just..." She stepped back to the chair and pushed a button on her visor. The image of the Duchess of Mandalore rose in the center of the floor for them all to see and an almost imperceptible intake of breath caused Soniee to turn her gaze to Master Kenobi. The others were too busy watching as Satine tried to calm her people and confront the arrival of Pre Viszla and his Deathwatch fighters who promised to defend Mandalore from the gangsters.

Soniee hadn't anticipated Obi-wan's reaction to seeing his love, alive and well in the holo and she wanted to kick herself for it now. But she had a job to do so when Viszla's form flew out of the image she stopped he vid and picked up her tale. "We weren't convinced that Viszla had suddenly become the hero and I believed I could sense that the timing of the criminal activity and the arrival of the Deathwatch was a little too convenient."

"You say you sensed this?" Master Windu asked.

"Yes." Soniee said a little more timidly than before. "I assume Master Kenobi informed you all that I... am sensitive to ... the Force?"

"Informed us, he did." Master Yoda assured her.

"But you remain untrained?"

"Yes, Master Windu. I believed I could sense something." She shook her head frowning at the memory. "I think it was from the point when the crime families first arrived. Something just felt wrong." She shivered.

Master Windu leaned forward in his chair to address Obi-wan. "You said it was Darth Maul who was leading these gangsters?"

"Yes." Master Kenobi stroked his beard. "I believe he and his brother were trying to stay behind the scenes in the beginning but even so Miss Ordo seems to have been able to sense the darkness that had arrived on her planet."

"Go on." Windu gestured toward Soniee for her to continue.

She nodded. "Most of the holos we were able to see after that were of the Deathwatch arresting various crime lords. Again it all seemed very contrived like we were only seeing what Viszla wanted us to see. And then the Night Owls were sent to liberate the Academy."

"Night Owls?" the tall headed Cerean who was seated between Obi-wan and Master Yoda asked.

"They were a division of the Deathwatch. That or another group that was allied with the Deathwatch. I'm not completely sure of the association." Soniee explained. "They came to the Academy to send everyone home. All the staff... and then they lined up all the cadets and checked off our names from the Academy records. We were all supposed to go home and become useful members of our clans."

"But not you," Master Windu observed.

"No. The four of us, Korkie and I and Lagos Jerec and Amis Lok, asked if we could stay. We wanted to stay together and be close by in case we found a way that we could be helpful to the Duchess. But we told the leader of the Night Owls, Bo-Katan, that..."

"Bo-Katan? The Duchess's sister? She was working with the Deathwatch?" asked the Togruta Master.

"Y-yes." The question caught Soniee by surprise and she looked at Master Kenobi who gave her a nod that he had already explained about Bo-Katan. "We had no idea at the time of her connection to the Duchess. We told her that the four of us were about to graduate anyway and that... Korkie and I's clans might not want us to be together if I was sent home..." She blushed but hurried on with her story. "We weren't sure at the time why she let us stay. We were afraid she might even be planning on turning Korkie over to Viszla because of his connection to the Duchess. There was a time, when we were working with Ahsoka that Prime Minister Almec put a shock collar on Korkie to try to get the Duchess to sign a false confession." A tear slipped down Soniee's cheek and she hastily dashed it away with the back of her hand.

"You worry about your friend now that Almec is back in power." The Togruta observed.

Soniee nodded.

"Your compassion does you credit," Master Plo Koon said.

She felt a gentle nudge of the Force from several directions at once, the Masters helping to calm her worried mind. They gave her a moment and she took a deep breath before she continued. "Whatever the reason, she did allow us to stay. The Night Owls left us alone at the Academy and we saw this later that evening."

Soniee pressed the button on her visor to play another holo. This one showed Bo-Katan pacing in front of a group of shackled prisoners on the steps of the palace.

"Duchess Satine and the new Mandalorian leaders have fled in cowardice, while the Deathwatch brought these criminals to justice." Bo-Katan smiled proudly. "Your new prime minister Pre Viszla, leader of Deathwatch, exiled governor of Concordia, true son of Mandalore presents you with the lords of the most feared crime families in the galaxy."

Then the holo image showed, Viszla. He just stood there silently smiling, surveying his new domain.

Soniee ended the holo and picked up the story. "We didn't think the Duchess would have fled. We didn't know where she would have gone but we still didn't know what we could do to help. And then we knew things were getting more serious when we saw this." She started another holo.

Pre Viszla was standing on the steps of the palace with Maul at his mercy. "The violence is over." He told the crowd. "The last of the parasites infecting Mandalore has been caught. The duchess has abandoned her duty to protect Mandalore. Her political dream only encourages aggression against our planet. We have learned from this beast the consequences of pacifist principals. It's now time to restore the traditions of Mandalore! No one will ever threaten us again!"

Soniee glanced again at Master Kenobi who seemed to be clenching his jaw tightly. She swallowed and then went on, "It was the next day that I remembered that the Jedi had sent protectors to guard the Duchess when she was young, during our Civil War." She smiled sadly at Obi-wan. "Korkie and I thought if we could get in touch with the Council that maybe you could send someone to help her again."

She looked around at the Masters not to accuse them but disappointed all the same. "We tried to use the comm unit in our common room but the signal seemed to be jammed. So we tried another unit inside the Academy and that didn't work either and neither did the portable when we went outside. We were about to take one of the Academy speeder bikes out to see if we could get a signal somewhere else when Bo-Katan showed up again.

"She told us that Maul had challenged Viszla to single combat and won, that most of the Deathwatch warriors had sworn loyalty to Maul, but a few of her Night Owls wouldn't accept an offworlder as leader so they had fled. And that was when she revealed that Satine was her sister and we decided to work together to help free the Duchess.

"Then we found out about Almec." Soniee pressed the button on her visor to play one last holo.

Almec rose into the image, "Silence! Please! Silence! Hear me now! Duchess Satine, the so-called pacifist who could not protect you when your lives were at stake, has murdered Pre Viszla, the true hero of Mandalore. Satine is now under arrest, and it was Pre Viszla's last command that I be reinstated as Prime Minister. I know my past is checkered, but I promise you I take full responsibility for my people. And my heart now bleeds for your pain. However, from this point on, Mandalore will be strong, and we will be known as the warriors we were always meant to be!"

Soniee was about to start speaking again when Master Kenobi interrupted her. "Maul is using Almec as a puppet. I saw that for myself." His voice was measured with a practiced calm. "A Sith is the power behind the throne of Mandalore now."

First one voice answered denying the claim. Then another voice certain that it must be true. It wasn't long before the peaceful debate had become a passioned argument.

Soniee stumbled back into the empty chair. She was thinking of the next part of the narrative that she had planned on sharing with them. She remembered the last time she had seen Amis alive, how excited he had been for their next adventure. She remembered the last time she had seen the Duchess alive, still so beautiful and confident and in charge of the situation. She remembered the fight in the hanger and the fear and anger she had drawn on in that moment to shove the Shadow Collective soldiers away from her friends.

It was here too. She could feel that fear and anger now. She wondered if it was the war that had brought it or if it had always been here. Soniee pressed the heals of her hands to her temples and her gaze crossed the room to Master Yoda as if begging him to make it stop.

He had not participated with the rest of them in the confrontation. He was watching her. Then he held up his small hand.

Soniee didn't see how the other Masters would even notice the gesture as distracted as they were with their own words but gradually the room quieted.

"Wait, this conversation shall, until our young guest, left us she has." Yoda held her gaze and beaconed to her. "Come child."

She did as she was told, crossed the room, and knelt before the Grand Master.

"Sensitive indeed, are you, to the Force. Over sensitive, you feel sometimes, hmm?"

Soniee nodded.

"Trained, you wish to be, to control your feelings?"

"Aren't I too old to begin the journey as a padawan?"

Yoda sighed as if he truly regretted the situation. "Too old, you are, as an initiate, to join this temple. Your training, too long neglected, has been. But guidance, still you need."

His words were kind but confusing. How could she receive guidance if she wasn't allowed to join the temple and did she even want training from this body whom she had just witnessed descending into the same chaos that had plagued her own mind?

She brought her thoughts back to the reason she was here in the first place. "What of my people, Master Yoda? Will the Council send help to Mandalore?"

Master Windu spoke softly, "Perhaps we should allow Miss Ordo to wait outside while we consider her case?"

"Yes. Yes. Wait outside, you shall." Yoda nodded and he squeezed her hand that she had not even realized he had been holding.

"Yes, Master." Soniee rose and without looking to the left or right at the other Council members, walked out of the chamber.

* * *

I may have fudged a bit on which Masters were in attendance in the council on the day before the bombing but these are the ones I wanted Soniee to come in contact with so we'll just say that some left and other's arrived at the temple before the bombing occurred.  
and OMG look there it is! the elusive REVIEW button! hurry! catch it before it gets away! please let me know how you think i'm doing!


	16. Prince of Alderaan

a tiny little interlude. enjoy. :)

* * *

Everyone was familiar with the Bard of Chandrila: the comedies, the tragedies, the histories, the sonnets. For centuries students from schools and academies all over the galaxy had been forced to read and discuss and watch holos of famous performances. Chandrila had an academy specifically devoted to studying his works. It was supposedly in the exact spot where the original theater to perform the Bard's works had been located. The true identity of the Bard might still be a mystery, his species, his planet of origin, even if he was actually a he, but his plays were legendary.

So, the decision to perform a play by the Bard of Chandrila for their graduation year production had been an easy one. The difficult part had been deciding which of the Bard's plays to perform.

Soniee's vote had been for one of the comedies, a tale about some tricky little Force users who's improper use of their powers lead to the confusion of pairs of lovers who are wondering through the forests of Endor. It had a happy ending in which all of the pairs are sorted out as they should be and they all believe they've just shared some delightful spice induced dream.

She was looking forward to using her talents for some special effects and pyrotechnics (and maybe a little of her own Force magic) for the fairies' hijinks. And she was just fine with the traditional practice of only male actors playing all the parts. She was much more comfortable backstage than on it.

She had been overruled, however, when the rest of the class chose a tragedy. There was a little sword fighting and a ghost but mostly soliloquies and drama. Korkie had been cast as the Prince of Alderaan, a tragic character who's dead father comes to him to demand vengeance for his murder. The queen, played by Lagos, acts the perfect grieving widow for the visiting royal family from Onderon who come to pay their respects.

Soniee complains that it's type casting when she's forced into the role of the Onderonian princess but at least she doesn't have as many lines as Lagos and she gets to kiss Korkie in Act Two. Amis who is cast as her protective elder brother tells her that it's not really type casting because the princess isn't really Onderonian at all, she was adopted. To which Soniee replies, "So was I." And Lagos counters, "Well at least you and Korkie weren't twins separated at birth. At least we don't think so..."

Because, well, that's how the play goes. The Queen of Alderaan had been plotting her husband's death for ages. When she got pregnant with the twins she knew she couldn't keep both of them safe from the king but she could convince him that she had only had one child, the son he had always wanted and she sent the baby girl away. Upon the king's death she believes she can safely bring her daughter back but before all is revealed, the twins fall in love. The Prince of Alderaan believing he's doing the will of his father's ghost, murders the king of Onderon. And then with the death of her adopted father and the news that her lover is really her twin brother, the princess of Onderon goes mad and throws herself off a balcony.

That at least will require a bit of special effects magic. Soniee will actually get to jump dramatically off a balcony for the scene, wearing a jetpack so she can swoop off backstage after she's beyond the view of the audience. After that Korkie and Amis get to have an epic saber battle and in the end no one survives. Heartwarming.

Soniee is terrified the night of the performance. She tries to take her mind off things by taking her holo cam around to all of her fellow cadets interviewing them and taking pix so they can all remember this event as one of the last projects they will all experience together before they graduate. She's recording when the Duchess comes backstage to tell them all to break a leg.

"Can't you put that thing down?" Korkie grins at her.

"No I'll get too nervous and I want to make sure to have a recording so we can all remember."

Korkie takes the cam and hands it to the Duchess. "Here, Auntie Satine can record the whole thing and you'll be fine." He gives Soniee a quick kiss and then forces her to face the cam that the Duchess is now pointing at the both of them. "Isn't she beautiful, Auntie? Isn't she going to steal the show?"

The Duchess laughs. "Just have fun Soniee. I didn't get to be a part of my graduation year production and I've always wished I could have."

"I'll try, Your Grace." Soniee smiles nervously.

Satine records the entire production from the front row. She laughs and cheers and gasps in all the right places and she even whistles loudly when the lovers kiss. And it was her voice that that Obi-wan heard over all of the lines of the actors when he stumbled upon the recording while re-watching the holos that Soniee had played for the council from her display visor.


	17. council decision

we now return you to your regularly scheduled fan fic

* * *

The door swished shut behind her and Soniee let out a breath she must have been holding for the last several minutes. She had done it. The council had heard her case and now it was up to them to decide if they would send help to Mandalore or not.

The exhaustion hit her all at once. How long had it been since she had slept? It seemed like ages since she had woken up in Korkie's arms. The meditation during the flight had helped to calm her but the hyperspace jumps had totally thrown off her internal chronometer.

She was emotionally exhausted as well. First there had been Korkie's proposal and then the Duchess's death, that weird brush with the Dark Side of the Force and then meeting Korkie's father and Barris and having to rehash everything in front of the Jedi Council. She wondered how long they would deliberate, if she had time to find her way back to the hanger to check if Korkie had returned her comm. But what she really needed was sleep. She wished she had thought to grab her display visor on the way out so she would have something to keep her busy while she was waiting.

Then she noticed something on the floor across the hall and realized that it was the helmet Bo-Katan had given her. "How did this get here?" she wondered aloud.

"Padawan Barris Offee delivered it here so you need not return to her quarters, Miss Ordo."

The muffled voice made Soniee jump. She spun around. There, what she had taken before as statues on either side of the entrance to the council chamber, she now realized were Temple Guards. The one who had spoken (she supposed) gave her a brief nod. Other than that small gesture she had not seen either of them move once.

"Th-thank you." And then not wanting to turn her back on them again she sort of scuttled sideways to the opposite wall, picked up her helmet, and sat down on the floor where it had been lying.

She still had yet to try the thing on. So for lack of anything better to do and regardless of her carefully braided hair, Soniee slipped it over her head. This wasn't just some fancy piece of armor with a nice paint job. As soon as she had it on she could see that the HUD system was lightyears ahead of her old visor. The commlink tech was integrated so as soon as it was synced and activated she could send and receive messages from anywhere with an available signal. And the memory, it had at least 10x the amount of storage as her visor. This wasn't just some throw away gift to keep her from getting knocked on the head. This was a serious piece of machinery.

"Thank you, Bo!"

Again she wished she had her visor so she could start to transfer her files over to the new device. Even with the excitement of having a new toy however, her eyelids would barely stay open. It wasn't long before she had drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Miss Ordo."

"Hmm?" Soniee gradually came back to consciousness. She didn't know where she was, only that her neck hurt from sleeping in a strange position and her scalp was being poked painfully in several places.

"Miss Ordo," The voice said again. "The council has reached a decision."

"The...council?" Her voice sounded strange and echoy. She sat up and her hands went up to the new helmet and pulled it off. She touched her hair, the braids now in disarray, and rolled her neck and shoulders to release the tension. Then in a flash she knew exactly where she was and why. "The council! They've reached a decision?"

She jumped up and then swayed, light-headed, on the spot.

The temple guard reached a hand forward to steady her and then went instantly back to his regular waxworks pose.

Soniee touched her hair once more, decided not to worry about it and stepped up to the door as it swished open for her to enter. The sky beyond the windows was nearly dark now so she assumed a good deal of time had passed though she had no idea how much. She gave a general polite bow to the room at large and then asked in a rush, "You've come to a decision, Masters?"

They didn't look as happy and welcoming as they had before. She supposed they had argued. Part of her felt guilty for creating discord in the group, but mostly she just prayed to the Force or anything else that was listening that they had decided to help.

Finally the Cerean spoke, "It is the ruling of this council that we can not at this time send aid to the Mandalore System."

"What? But..." She looked from the tall-headed Master to Obi-wan on his right. But Master Kenobi was just lowering her display visor from his face. His eyes were so intensely sad she nearly forgot her argument.

"We cannot send aid at this time," Master Windu picked up the dialogue. "without the approval of the Senate."

"Well," Soniee drew her gaze away from Kenobi and questioned the dark skinned Master. "What does that mean? What do we do now?"

Yoda answered her, "Before the Senate, you must bring your case."

"The Senate?" she almost squeaked. She looked around at them all, suddenly feeling very small and helpless. "Me? I wasn't even supposed to be here. I don't... I can't..."

"You can." Obi-wan finally spoke. Soniee had been unsure if he was even paying attention but now his mouth quirked into a smile and he held up the visor. "You were a brilliant Princess of Onderon, you can do this."

Her mouth fell open. She had completely forgotten that the recording of the play was saved on the device. She closed her mouth and covered it with her free hand. She looked around at the other Masters many of whom had regained their smiles. "But... that was acting. That was memorized lines and costumes and make-up..."

"That sounds about like the Senate." The Nautolan grinned.

Master Yoda chuckled. "Unrehearsed you shall not go. To Senator Amidala, Master Obi-wan will take you. Think you not, a suitable mentor she will be? hmm?" He directed the question to Kenobi who nodded.

"Yes," Obi-wan answered. "I was meaning to go anyway and inform the Senator of the Duchess's passing. They were friends."

"Settled it is then." Yoda nodded and then he looked at Soniee, well looked into her more like. "Though action on this matter we can not now take, our hearts with you go and May the Force be with you."

She nodded solemnly and waited for Master Kenobi to rise from his seat to escort her out of the chamber.


	18. another reason to stay

soooo ummmm Padme and the temple bombing. yeah. that's about it.

* * *

They entered the lift, she carrying her helmet and he carrying her visor.

"I suppose I should give this back to you," said Obi-wan. Then he smiled. "Although, I would have liked to see the rest of Act Two."

Soniee grinned shyly. "You really think I was a brilliant Princess of Onderon?"

"Worthy of the praise of a Duchess." He sounded a bit wistful.

Soniee blushed. "She was there to see Korkie. He was the lead. And I'm sure she'd had the opportunity to see much more professional productions than what we did."

"You said Korkie thought of her like a mother."

She nodded.

"It seems like she was very fond of him as well."

"She was."

They were both quiet a moment and then he held out her visor. "Well, this is yours." He cleared his throat.

Soniee took the device in her free hand and looked at it. The lift stopped. They exited and he led her through the main entrance of the Temple, the massive pillars and down the flight of steps. She was distracted and didn't really realize until then that they hadn't gone to the hanger. "Er - am I not flying us to see the Senator?"

"No, I thought we would just take a skycab so we don't have to worry about parking." He winked and then hailed the transport.

She looked down at her two devices again while they waited. "You know I could..." She put on the helmet and then pushed a few buttons on the visor. Then she handed the visor back to him. "There, it'll keep uploading and you can pick up where you left off."

The skycab dropped down to hover in front of them and he smiled. "Thank you."

Soniee didn't mind the quiet trip to the Senate apartment complex. While Kenobi was busy watching the remainder of the play, she was remembering Korkie's performance. Again it seemed that focusing on her betrothed (is that what she should call him now?) was keeping the noise of the city at bay. She also felt safer in the cocoon of her new helmet. She really was going to have to get that commlink system up and working as soon as possible.

They flew into view of the senate district and Soniee had to take off her helmet to see it with her own eyes. She had of course seen holos of the huge domed building but it was nothing to seeing it in person. Around it rose impossibly tall structures and it was toward one of these that they seemed to be veering off the main skyway.

"Is that where we're going?" She asked and after a moment Kenobi lowered the visor from his eyes and looked where she was pointing.

"Yes. That's the senate apartment complex." His voice was subdued but he answered her questions easily enough. "Senator Amidala resides in the penthouse suite when she is here on Coruscant."

He pointed to an even taller building nearby. "And that is 500 Republica. That's where the Chancellor lives."

Soniee had always thought the precariously stacked crystalline cubes of Sundari were impressive but this was... well it was something else entirely. She wished Korkie was here with her to see it.

Their skycab pulled up to the landing platform and they both disembarked. When they had entered the building Kenobi handed back her display visor.

"Thank you again for letting me finish the play. I stand by what I said before. You were a brilliant Princess of Onderon." Then he frowned. "I do apologize for viewing your files without asking first. I didn't mean to intrude on your privacy."

"No, it's - it's fine."

They had reached the doorway to the Senator's apartment and Kenobi touched the panel to signal their presence. After a moment it swished open and Amidala herself stood there to welcome them.

"Obi-wan, what a surprise. To what do I owe..." but then she stopped when she saw the look on his face. "You were going to Mandalore. Anakin said you took the Twilight."

"I'll have to ask him to forgive me for that. It - crashed." He began with almost an attempt at humor but then the heaviness returned to his words as he came right to the point. "Padme, Duchess Satine is..."

"Oh no, not Satine!" Her hands covered her mouth in shock and horror. "Obi, I'm so sorry."

"I was never able to tell you thank you for... Naboo."

Soniee was not sure what that meant but she could tell that Master Kenobi was just barely keeping it together. Without thinking she stretched her hand out and laid it on his arm. She closed her eyes and through the Force she willed him peace and comfort in his sadness. She felt him physically relax. But when she opened her eyes again both the Senator and the Jedi were staring at her. She drew her hand back self-consciously.

Amidala looked back and forth between them. "Have you taken a new Padawan?" She asked.

"No." They both answered at once but Soniee could understand the confusion. She was still wearing the borrowed clothes from the Temple and when she looked down she noticed that one of her braids had come loose and was draped over her shoulder.

"You do look familiar though." The senator observed.

"I'm Soniee Ordo. I - I was once assigned to you as a page during the peace meetings in Sundari."

"Miss Ordo, oh of course. I remember." She smiled in recognition. "You've grown up. But what's all this?" She gestured toward the Jedi-like tunic and Soniee supposed she was really asking about the Jedi-like action that she had shared with the Master.

Kenobi answered so she didn't have to. "Soniee has had quite an ordeal over the past few days. She has just stood before the Council to inform them of the goings-on in Sundari and they have requested that she now take her case before the Senate."

As if to illustrate his words a yawn forced its way from her chest and she covered her her mouth, embarrassed in front of the other two.

"You poor thing. You must be exhausted." The senator reached out and Soniee stepped willingly into the welcoming arms. The Duchess had always been the same way, ready to offer a comforting hug.

"You'll help her prepare then, for her presentation?" Kenobi asked.

"Of course, I'd be more than happy. But I think sleep might be in order first." She gave Soniee a motherly smile.

Kenobi's commlink beeped then. He touched unit on his wrist and a small image of Master Yoda rose into view. "Master?"

Yoda looked stern and worried. "Back to the Temple, you must come."

"Of course. What has happened?"

"The details, unclear still are. A bomb, in the Temple hanger, has been detonated."

Kenobi, Soniee, and Amidala all spoke at once. "The Temple?" "The hanger?" "A bomb?"

"Perhaps it was only an accident," the Senator put forward as a suggestion.

"Our hope, that is." Yoda acknowledged her and then focused on Obi-wan.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Kenobi ended the comm and looked at the two women.

"We'll be fine. Go." Amidala told him and he turned to leave but Soniee put out a hand to stop him.

"The hanger. My ship?"

He patted her hand reassuringly, "I guess you have another reason to stay a little longer. Don't worry we'll see you get home to your - friends as soon as we can."

Then he hurried away but as she watched him go she thought she heard him say her name once more. She heard the words in her head, "I would be honored to have you as a daughter-in-law."

"He knows," Soniee whispered as the Senator wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her into the apartment.

"What's that?"

"Oh nothing," she began but something in the woman's eyes was so inviting of her trust. "It's just something that he said reminded me so much of..."

"Korkie?" Amidala finished for her.

Soniee wondered how she knew but she just nodded. If she and the Duchess had been friends perhaps they had talked...

"You and Korkie are friends? He's told you about his past?"

The younger girl blushed. "We're a bit more than friends and yes I know about his Mother." A tear slipped down her cheek. "I wasn't able to be there with him when he heard the news and now I'm not sure when I'll be able to go back home and I tried to comm him but I've no idea if he got the message." She finished with another yawn and a sob of pure physical and emotional exhaustion.

"Come on." The senator guided her toward a guest bed room. "You should sleep and then we'll talk in the morning."

"I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't you worry about a thing?" She set Soniee on the edge of the bed, took the helmet and visor out of her hands and laid them on a table, and then began removing the pins from her hair. Soniee didn't remember laying down. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	19. Suspicion

and then there was Ahsoka! yay! not exactly the circumstances under which they would have hoped to meet though.

* * *

She was woken by the sound of a door chime but it didn't take her long to remember where she was. Synthsilk sheets were not something that Soniee would soon forget. Momma Ordo would have thought them too frivolous a luxury and the academy issue bedding had to stand up to repeated washings. No, Soniee knew that she was in the penthouse of the Senate apartment complex and she had a vague memory that Senator Amidala had put her visor and helmet on the bedside table.

She reached for the visor now as much to have the feeling of something familiar in her hands as to look at the chrono.

She heard the door swish open in the other room and a droid's voice answering. "How can I help you?"

"I need to speak to the Senator." A male voice responded.

Soniee didn't pay it any mind. She held the device up to her eyes and was surprised for a moment that it didn't show to her start-up window. The image was the last one viewed by the last user. That had been Master Kenobi and the image was of a young Duchess Satine on a balcony with another man's hands on her waist and a child in her round belly. That was how he knew. That was why he'd apologized for looking into her private files.

She heard Senator Amidala's voice then, though the Senator was trying to keep her voice low presumably so she wouldn't wake her guest, "Commander Fox, is something the matter?"

And then the man's voice again, not bothering to lower his volume, "I'm here for Soniee Ordo. I am to escort her to the Jedi Temple for questioning."

"Questioning about what?"

"I'm sure you've heard by now about the bombing?"

"Well yes," Amidala answered. "But Miss Ordo was here when that happened. I can testify to that."

Soniee sat up in the bed, she ran her fingers through her hair to dislodge the last of the braids and tangles and then drew her hair back into a knot at the back of her head. She quickly grabbed her things and walked out in to the front room. "I think I know what this is about. It's because my ship or a ship that I flew was in the hanger. Is that right?"

It was a clone trooper with red markings on his armor, she saw, who the senator was speaking to. He nodded. "That's right." He turned back to Amidala. "I am sorry about this but right now everyone is a suspect."

The senator went to Soniee's side and put a protective hand on the girl's shoulder. "They're sure it wasn't an accident?"

"Quite sure, Ma'am. Jedi, clones, and temple workers were killed in the blast. It was deliberate."

"But who would do such a thing?"

The clone commander seemed to stand a bit taller, more official. "That's what they're investigating now and it's why I need Miss Ordo to come with me."

Soniee touched the Senator's hand that was resting on her shoulder and gently pushed it away, "It's okay. I'll go. I know I'm innocent." She looked at the helmeted clone. "Master Kenobi knows I'm innocent, too. I flew him to Coruscant in that ship. But if any information I have can help..."

Amidala hugged the younger girl and then looked her in the eye. "Would you like me to come with you? I could speak on your behalf."

"No," Soniee smiled. "To tell the truth, answering a few questions about a ship I flew sounds a lot less scary than speaking before the whole Senate."

"We'll work on that as soon as you're finished with this." The Senator smiled at her and then shot the clone trooper a sterner look. "You hear that, Commander Fox. You see to it that Miss Ordo returns here safe and sound as soon as she's done with her interview."

There was no mention of her being a suspect, Soniee noticed, and for that she was thankful.

"Yes Ma'am," The trooper saluted. "I'll bring her back without a scratch."

Soniee was glad that the trooper seemed to trust her enough to let her walk ahead of him unhindered. No binders were put on her hands nor was there a blaster used to hurry her along. Something about it still seemed a bit like being put under arrest.

She was careful to go willingly so there would be no question of her resisting. That is until she thought of the devices in her hands. She turned back toward Amidala for a moment. "Oh, Senator Amidala," she said. And the clone commander's hand did go to hover over the weapon on his hip.

The Senator ran forward. "What is it? And please call me Padme."

Soniee looked timidly at the clone before she held out her visor. "There are some holos recorded here, news from the past few days in Sundari. I showed them to the council. They may help with the Senate as well."

Padme nodded to reassure Commander Fox as she took the device. "I'll look them over while you're at the Temple, Soniee, and we'll put together a convincing argument when you return."

"Thank you, Sen- I mean, Padme."

Soniee did not look out at the view as they flew back to the Temple. She was going over the Jedi code in her head again as Master Kenobi had taught it to her on the way to Coruscant. _There is no ignorance only knowledge_. Well, she knew she was innocent and if anything she knew could help the Jedi find who had done this terrible thing she was glad to help.

She was also thinking that if she co-operated and got this over with quickly it would mean she would get back to Mandalore sooner. Although, how she was supposed to do that now without a ship, she had no idea.

The clone commander led her back up the steps, through those massive columns, and through the halls toward what appeared to be some kind of med bay. There were a lot of beings on stretchers and cots with injuries from the bombing. Seeing them made Soniee sad and frightened and yes, a bit angry at whoever had done this. She could feel just the beginnings of that hot bubble of hate stirring in the pit of her stomach and she quickly tried to squash it down. _There is no emotion only peace_.

They came to a small, empty room nearby the infirmary and Commander Fox gestured for to enter. "You're to wait here and the interrogator will be with you shortly."

Soniee would have laughed at the words if she wasn't so nervous. As it was, she just nodded and stepped into the sparsely decorated cell. He closed the door behind her making it feel more than ever like a prison.

There were no chairs in the room only a carpet spread on the floor and Soniee realized that this place was a meditation chamber. That made her feel a little better and she even began to feel a little bored at the prospect of sitting here waiting for her 'interrogator' to arrive. There was a table in the corner with a little drawer and although she was perfectly aware of what they said curiosity did to Lothcats, she opened the drawer.

Inside it she found a string of beads and she remembered what Master Kenobi had said about some Jedi having an object to physically manipulate with their hands to help their minds focus on meditation. This must be such an object. She looked closer at the beads and indeed on each one she saw a word etched. "Peace. Knowledge. Serenity. Harmony. Force." The beads felt warm in her hands and she found herself naturally taking a seat on the carpet and repeating the code as she held each bead between her fingers.

After that it seemed no time at all before the door of the chamber opened and Soniee saw the very last face she expected to see. "Padawan Tano?" She stood while Ahsoka stared and then after a moment recognized her as well.

"Soniee! What are you doing here? I was told I would find my next suspect to question in here."

"Guess that's me." Soniee shrugged. "My ship was in the hanger when it blew. I flew Master Kenobi here yesterday from Mandalore."

Ahsoka waved the information away as if it weren't important. "How is everyone? Korkie? Amis? Lagos?"

Soniee sobered. "Amis was ... killed and so was... The Duchess."

"Oh Soniee, I'm so sorry." She reached out to hug the other girl.

"Hugging the suspect is not very professional behavior for an interrogation." A funny little droid followed Ahsoka into the room and shut the door behind itself.

The padawan rolled her eyes, "Oh right. But Soniee is a friend I'm sure she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time or her ship was. Isn't that what you said."

Soniee nodded. "It was an Ex-Deathwatch ship so I can understand the aversion but Master Kenobi was with me the whole time so he can vouch for me. He and ummm... Barris... Padawan Barris Offee. She was at the hanger to meet us when we landed and she helped me find a place where I could change and get cleaned up before I had to speak to the Council."

"You addressed the Jedi Council?" Ahsoka asked amazed. "What for?"

"Trying to get them to send help to Mandalore. It's - it's bad, Ahsoka, worse than the Deathwatch ever was. There's a Sith lord who's behind it, and he's set Almec back up as Prime Minister."

"A Sith Lord!" the Padawan was amazed. "What did the Masters say?"

Both girls were ignoring the impatient tutting of the droid.

"They won't do anything without the approval of the Senate." Soniee sighed. "So that's what I've got to do next."

"Can we please get back to the matter at hand?" the droid asked.

Ahsoka frowned. "Russo's right, unfortunately. So, let's see. You said you flew the ship here from Mandalore with Master Obi-wan. I'm sure he will speak up for you." She smiled. "And then Barris met you both in the hanger and led you where exactly?"

"I think it was the padawan dormitories or guest quarters? Honestly I'm still pretty lost around here. I got a shower and changed because I still had on coveralls from working on a couple of speeders back at the academy and..."

"You work on speeders?" Ahsoka asked.

Soniee shrugged. "Well yeah. My mom taught me when I was a kid. She was a pilot."

"So you know the inner workings of many kind of ships?"

"Y-yes," she answered the droid cautiously.

"You could have done something to an engine to cause it to... explode?"

"I - no! I would never. I said I could fix them. I would never even think of..."

"Of course she wouldn't, Russo." Ahsoka sighed exasperated.

"That is what we are here to discover and all areas of inquiry must be explored."

"He's right." Soniee agreed. Then she shut her eyes and thought of the exact configuration of the engine of the Kom'rk and then she remembered the readings from all of the instruments. "We had just arrived from the Mandalore System. It took us two hyperjumps to reach the core." She opened her eyes and looked at them. "No. We were low on fuel after the trip. I might have been able cause a small fire but nothing like what must have hurt all those people." She shuddered thinking of the beings she had seen in the med bay.

"Thank you for your honesty." The droid made a note on a datapad and turned to go.

Soniee let out a breath and looked at Ahsoka. "I'm just glad I wasn't there when it happened. I had sent Korkie a comm from the ship before I walked away from it and I meant to go back and check to see if he had returned my comm."

"You never went back to the ship?" Ahsoka asked.

"Never had the time. And I was really hoping to hear from Korkie."

"You miss him."

"I'm gonna marry him. If I can ever get back to Mandalore. And if there's a Mandalore to go back to."

Ahsoka's eyes widened and then she smiled. "Maybe once we find the sleemo who did this, I can help you out with that. But for now I'm afraid." she frowned. "I'm gonna have to ask you to stay here a little longer till we know for sure what happened in that hanger."

"I get it, really. I'll just hang out here and ... meditate."

"You can use the Force, can't you?" The Padawan asked. "Why didn't you say something before?"

The droid, Russo, appeared in the doorway again. "Was it not you who wanted to be a part of these interrogations, Jedi?" he asked.

"Duty calls," said Ahsoka. "We'll talk later."

And with that they left Soniee alone with her thoughts once more.


	20. Never Alone

The song (by Barlow Girl) is mostly for Korkie and Soniee but this chapter is dedicated to Commander Fox. I never really liked him before, something about the way he treated Ahsoka and then Fives. But i just finished reading Hard Contact and the first couple chapters of Triple Zero so i'm feeling all kind of warm and fuzzy toward all clones right now.

* * *

You told me to call  
Said you'd be there  
And though I haven't seen you  
Are you still there?  
I cried out with no reply  
And I can't feel you by my side  
So I'll hold tight to what I know  
You're here, and I'm never alone  
And though I can not see you  
And I can't explain why  
Such a deep, deep reassurance  
You've placed in my life  
Whoa, we cannot separate  
'Cause you're part of me  
And though you're invisible  
I'll trust the unseen

Waiting. How long would it take for the investigators to find the evidence they needed to let her go? She could meditate some more but she didn't really feel like it. She still had the beads clasped in her hand though because they seemed to bring some comfort. Now if she had her new helmet she could start working on souping it up to her own specs. But where was it?

Soniee knew she had picked up the helmet from the bedside table at Padme's apartment. She had handed her visor to the Senator but she was sure she had brought the helmet with her. She looked around the small chamber to see if she had put it down somewhere and forgotten about it, but it was nowhere to be found.

She couldn't have lost it. It wasn't just an amazing piece of tech. She had already downloaded all her files to its memory, files that had already revealed the truth about Korkie's real parents to one person.

Korkie. A fresh wave of loneliness and longing washed over her at the thought of him. She just wanted to be near him and hear his voice and know that he was okay. Would she know if something had happened to him? Was their connection that strong?

She hadn't realized when the duchess had been killed but maybe that was because there was so much other 'noise' in the Force when it had happened.

Soniee reached out into the Force. She focused on Korkie and him alone out of all the beings in the galaxy. And there like a pinprick of light in the blackness of space, she found him. The relief of that tiny assurance of his presence was like a breath of air to starved lungs.

Then her mind seemed to array them all in her own personal constellation. Korkie's star was there, and Lagos, and Momma Ordo, but the shining beacon that had been the Duchess in the center of it all had been extinguished and with her the gravity that had held them all together. Soniee did feel her loss now and the loss of another star, Amis.

He was like her brother. He was her first kiss. He was always looking out for her. What was it he had said that morning? "Korkie would never forgive me if I let you fly a broken bike." And just before he had died he had looked back to see if she was okay.

She wondered how Lagos was doing and she now focused on her former roommate. Lagos's star seemed almost fractured as if she'd been broken in two. Soniee knew that's how she would feel if she ever lost Korkie. Her heart went out to her friend.

And then suddenly all of them were eclipsed by something dark and cold and jubilant. Something evil was returning victorious from Mandalore, returning to another victory here on Coruscant. Anger and hate swirled around her in the Force and she held tight to the string of meditation beads like a lifeline, until the bliss of unconsciousness drew her under.

* * *

"Commander?"

Red, black and white swam together into the form of a helmet before her eyes.

"There you are, Miss." The clone helped her to sit up.

"What happened?" Soniee asked.

"Well they've discerned that the blast came from somewhere else other than your ship and they've got a suspect. You're free to go. Although, I think going to the med center might be the first stop. I came to bring you back to the Senator's and found you passed out on the floor."

"I'm fine." She shook her head to clear it. "Did you call me Commander?"

"Oh you, ah, heard that." The helmet dipped slightly, embarrassed. "Your being force sensitive and dressed up like that. I forgot for a moment that you're not a Padawan. They all rank Commander." He sounded as if he wasn't thrilled with that idea, answering to younglings.

"That's definitely not me." She smiled at the clone. "I'd hate to be given a rank that I didn't earn, as you obviously have. Commander... Fox, wasn't it?"

She may have added that bit at the end to stroke his ego. It obviously had that effect.

"Thank you, Miss." He reached for her hand to help her stand and found it white knuckled around the strand of beads. Without speaking he removed his gloves to help her gently uncurl her fingers out of the fist. There on her palm in low relief were the words, "Peace. Knowledge. Serenity."

Soniee winced as she wiggled her fingers and the blood began to flow to them once more.

"What was it that made you... faint?" The Commander asked, worried and a little curious.

"I was..." She couldn't remember exactly. It was... bad, a vision of some kind but she didn't want to tell him that. "Hungry." she finally finished. "I don't know when the last time was that I ate." That at least was true. She stood, still a little dizzy.

"We'll have to get you some food then. I promised the Senator I'd bring you back safe and sound and I believe that includes not starved."

She thought he might have winked at her if he didn't have the helmet on and she smiled.

"Oh," he continued, unclipping something from his belt and handing it to her. "This belongs to you, I believe." He held out her own helmet and she took it with a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. I thought I'd lost it." She put it on. "Now we match. Where are we headed?"

"Best diner on Coruscant."

"Alright. Lead the way."

* * *

The neighborhood made her a little nervous, (she was glad she had a clone commander for an escort) the diner looked like an old grounded transport, and the Besalisk owner was (at first sight) rather alarming. But Fox was right, the food was amazing.

Soniee exclaimed over the fried Meilooruns. She hadn't had any in ages. When she said that they had been the Duchess's favorite and that the Duchess had just passed on, and that she had been the one to fly Master Kenobi back to Coruscant, she got a full 4 armed hug from Dex himself. He said that any friend of Kenobi's was a friend of his and he refused to take any payment.

"You're not just going to sit there and let me eat all this." She told Commander Fox when Flo put another full plate on the table between them saying that it was on the house.

"No no. You're the one who was faint with hunger." He insisted.

"And I've already finished two platefuls. Come on, helmet off, and dig in. That's an order." She grinned.

He laughed. "I guess that's an order I don't mind following, even though you have no authority to give it." He took off his helmet and set it on the table next to hers.

She pushed the plate toward him and waited for him to take a bite of the fried fruit. His eyes lit up.

"Good, right?"

"Mmmm, yeah!" He was more shy now with his face exposed. He kept glancing at her helmet but instead of asking her about it he'd just grab another piece of fruit and stuff it in his mouth.

After they'd both been silent for sometime, Soniee finally offered, "If you, umm, want to check it out, it's okay with me."

"What?" He blushed as if caught.

"My helmet. Go ahead."

Fox wiped his hands and mouth on a napkin and smiled. "Sure?"

"Yeah."

Almost reverently, he lifted the helmet and began to inspect the hardware and the technological capabilities.

"I haven't had the chance to really try out everything it can do, yet." She told him. "It's way better than my old display visor though."

"I knew our gear was based off the Mando stuff but I've never really been able to compare. Your HUD on this is similar to what the ARCs have in theirs..."

She let him expound on all the finer points, just smiling. He reminded her of, well, herself.

"What?" he looked up after a while to see her staring.

"It's nothing. I just... can I see yours?"

"Sure." He pushed his own helmet across the table toward her.

She impressed him with a similar discourse on the pros and cons of his model and what she would do to modify it to her own preferences if it were hers. Then she finished with a sigh. "But you know sometimes it's nice just to put it on and block out the galaxy for a while."

"I didn't know anybody else felt like that. Thought I might be defective."

She shrugged. "Sensitivity to the Force is supposed to be some kind of gift. Sometimes I wish I could just turn it off."

"I don't know about all that Jedi osik." He looked up at her quickly. "Sorry for the language, Miss."

"It's alright." She smiled. "What were you saying?"

He nodded and then went on. "Well, being raised for battle all you really ever get to see is the worst of people. You never really learn how deal with the finer things. Never imagined I could ever have anything in common with somebody like you." He was looking longingly at his own helmet now probably wishing that he could hide away in it after admitting such a thing to her.

Soniee blushed, hiding in her own helmet was sounding like a pretty good idea as well. "Nice to know that we're not alone." She pushed his helmet across the table toward him and he did the same for her.

Safely behind their matching 'T' visors they both sighed and then laughed.

"Ready to get back to the Senator's?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think I am."


	21. a mentor

Padme is great. and Sidious is a dirty old man.

* * *

Soniee dropped her datapad on the table and then flopped back onto the couch cushions. "Does it always take this much work to prepare a Senate presentation?" She felt like she'd been studying for final exams. Though she supposed that is what she would have been doing right now if it weren't for everything that had happened. That was exactly the reason she was doing this.

Padme laughed and handed the younger girl a cup of caff. "You actually had a good deal of the research done already."

The two of them had been at it for hours, reworking the information she had presented to the Jedi Council so it would be more fit for the audience of politicians and statesbeings. The advice of a veteran Senator had been invaluable. Padme had known which holos would be more of a detriment than an asset to her message and had helped her figure out how to tactfully remove any content that might reveal her own force sensitivity or Korkie's parentage.

Yes, Soniee had been correct in guessing that the Duchess had confided in the former queen. Sharing the knowledge had been a great relief, just knowing that she had someone she could be honest with. She was already beginning to think of Padme as more of a big sister than just a mentor.

The moment she had arrived with Commander Fox the senator had embraced her and asked if she was okay after her ordeal. Then Padme told her how she had attempted to comm both the palace and the Academy in Sundari. She had no luck in reaching anyone but had assured Soniee that they would keep trying. Soniee was happy confide in her new friend how she had felt Korkie's presence in the force while she was meditating.

Soniee took a sip of her drink. "Do you really think we're ready for this?"

"I do." Padme sat across from her relaxing with a drink of her own. "And I think you have good chance of convincing them that the Republic should send help. They were very close to sending soldiers a couple of years ago and they had nothing like the reasons you're giving them back then."

"And you really think they'll listen to me?"

"Soniee, this is your world and your people that you are defending. I think that the senators could not help but be swayed by your passion."

"Passion." Soniee mumbled the word sent a shiver down her spine. "There is no passion."

"I'm sorry. What was that?" Padme asked.

"N-nothing. When do you think I'll have to make my presentation?"

Padme stretched and sighed. "Not till tomorrow afternoon. So you can get a good night's sleep, and a good breakfast and then I'll let you have your pick from my closet. You'll be surprised how the right outfit can boost your confidence when you're going to speak before an audience."

Soniee set down her mug and smiled appreciatively. "Thank you. Not sure I'll be able to sleep but I will try." She picked up her helmet that was sitting on the couch next to her and rose to her feet. "I might just tinker with this for a bit."

There was a nightgown laid out on the bed for her when she entered the guest room. She changed and slipped in between those lovely synthsilk sheets. How would she ever repay everything that Padme had done for her?

She had every intention of working on the helmet, setting up the comm, trying to reach Korkie again, but she was more tired than she thought. After finding a station with some soothing music to listen to she was out like a light.

She dreamed that the Royal Academy of Government was in flames. But when she woke up gasping for breath, the sky outside the windows was already light. Soniee couldn't hear anyone else stirring in the apartment yet, so she picked up her helmet. Working with tech had always calmed her in the past and perhaps she could get through to the Academy and assuage her fears.

Comm systems activated, Soniee went through the same process of hacking into the link for her old dorm room that she had done on the ship just after she and Master Kenobi had landed. She should have been able to leave a message and view or listen to old message. She could do neither.

"Oh you're already up." Padme smiled, poking her head into the room. "Come on. Breakfast time. Big day today."

"Alright, let me just finish up here." Soniee laid her helmet on the bedside table. She would try again after breakfast. If she could manage to eat anything.

Padme was leaning against the counter in the kitchen area with a piece of toast in her hand when Soniee came to join her. "Sit and eat." The senator gestured toward a stool. On the bar in front of it were a selection of fruit and some sort of scrambled egg concoction that seemed to be mixed with vegetables. It smelled wonderful. Soniee supposed she could manage a bite.

Padme set the crust of her bread on a plate and it was whisked away by a server droid. "I'm going to get a shower and then the 'fresher will be all yours. Oh, and there's a datapad there with the schedule of topics that are going before the Senate today and I've made a list of the questions that are most likely to come up after you've said your piece with suggestions for how you might want to answer according to our research."

"Thank you." Soniee smiled and took her seat. She took a bite of the omelet and decided that she could definitely manage more than just one. It was delicious. Then she picked up the datapad and started to scroll through the schedule. It was more than just a list. There were links with information about the topics to be presented and the representatives who were doing the presenting along with their delegations and planets.

Her own presentation was about halfway down the day's roster. She wrinkled her nose at the still of herself smiling in her academy uniform. "Representative Soniee Ordo from the Neutral system of Mandalore," it said. She looked young even to her own eyes. She knew that Padme had been younger than she was now when she spoke before the senate as the Queen of Naboo but that didn't make her feel much better. She was sure no one would pay any attention to her when there were far more pressing measures.

Soniee went back to the schedule and frowned. "This says that an Admiral Tarkin is going to bring forward a motion about the Temple Bombing," she called back over her shoulder toward the 'fresher. "I thought that was a Jedi matter."

There was no answer as Padme was still in the shower. Soniee would ask her about it later. But when she looked again at the datapad the schedule had rearranged into a different order. Her own presentation had been shunted to the beginning of the list and the time was no longer showing as afternoon but instead, in one standard hour's time.

"What? Padme!" Soniee stared at the datapad. She heard the water shut off and then looked up as her friend entered the room in a robe with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Something wrong?" Padme asked.

Soniee's eyes were wide with fear. "They changed the time." She handed the datapad to the senator.

"Well this is inconvenient." She smiled at Soniee encouragingly. "Go on and get your shower."

Soniee frowned, worried.

"It'll be fine. This is good. It means they're giving your presentation a higher priority."

"Okay." She walked slowly toward the 'fresher deep in thought.

Then Padme called after her. "I left something in there for you to wear. I hope it fits."

Soniee couldn't help but smile at the lovely blue dress that was hanging on a hook just inside the door. It reminded her of her costume for the play and then she thought of what the Jedi Masters had said about the Senate being something like a theatrical drama. Well, she had her lines and now her costume. She just wished she had her leading man at her side.

She allowed her mind to wander to Korkie as she undressed and then stepped under the warm water and let it cascade over her. She reached out in the force for his star again. She remembered with a blush when she had projected a vision into his mind. She was sure he was too far away for anything like that now but she still spoke to him. "Where are you? I miss you so much. They moved up the time and I think I'm prepared as I can be to speak to the senate but I still wish you were here."

His presence was clear in her mind and then it seemed clouded like the steam from her shower was obscuring her vision. Then suddenly she felt a deep cold like she had in the meditation chamber and an evil laugh echoed in her mind.

Quickly she shut off the water and wrapped a towel around herself. Had she opened herself up to something by reaching out too far into the Force? She stood shivering until a knock on the 'fresher door made her jump.

"Soniee, are you alright?" Padme's voice asked through the door.

"I'm - I'm fine."

"Does the dress fit? We need to hurry now. Come on and I'll help you with your hair and then we need to get over to the Senate building."

"O-okay." The dread that had settled over her seemed to dissipate slowly with the steam. Soniee shook herself and tried to focus. She dried off and put on the dress. It was a little tight across the shoulders but other than that it was a pretty good fit. She felt much more grown up in it than she looked in that Academy still. But then it didn't really mater what she looked like. What was it Padme had said before, that they would be swayed by her passion for her cause?

 _Good, good!_ she heard the words in her mind. And another shiver slipped down her spine. _Through passion I gain strength._ What was that? That wasn't the Jedi Code.

Soniee looked down at the palm of her hand where the words were still faintly visible from the pressure of the meditation beads the day before. "There is no passion. There is Serenity." She whispered to herself and took a deep breath. Then she stepped out of the 'fresher.

"Well that looks fine." Padme smiled. "We'll get you some dresses of your own made up if you're going to do much more of this but you look lovely for today."

"Oh I hope I don't have to do this more than once!"

Padme then noticed her face. "You're very pale. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Just nervous." _No passion, just serenity_ , she thought to herself.

"Do you think you could eat anymore? It might help."

"No, thank you. Do you have that list of questions? I didn't get to look over it before."

Padme handed her the datapad and set her in a chair so that a droid could dry her hair and set it up in a dull metal headband.

Soniee noticed again the item on the schedule about the Temple Bombing. She pointed it out. "Padme, why is this a senate issue? I thought that the Jedi were taking care of it."

"Clones were killed in the bombing." Padme explained. "That makes it a Republic Military concern and I've found out that the woman they think is responsible was a civilian, someone who didn't like the Jedi's participation in the war."

"I don't like it either." Soniee whispered and then hurried to amend. "I mean I would never..."

Padme patted her on the shoulder. "I know what you mean. If only we could all remain neutral as Satine wanted."

Soniee nodded.

"But right now is the time for action. Are you ready?" the senator asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be."


	22. the senate

two chapters in one day wow! vaca next week so i'm not sure how often i'll get to write and post.  
so Soniee finally gets to get this over with and get home... maybe

* * *

It was a race through the halls of the senate building to reach the door to Padme's repulsorpod in time for the session to begin but just as they had rounded the last bend they were met by an unexpected retinue surrounding Palpatine himself.

"Chancellor." Padme bowed her head gracefully in acknowledgement.

Soniee looking nervously back and forth between them, followed her lead.

"Ladies." He smiled warmly but there was still something unnerving about him. Soniee couldn't place the sensation and pushed it out of her mind. Surely it was only the anxiety over meeting such a great leader. "I'm so glad I caught you before you entered the chamber. This must be Miss Ordo."

"Yes, S-sir, Chancellor." she stuttered.

He reached out for her hand which she offered in return, and bent to kiss it genteelly. When his lips touched her skin she received a static shock. "Enchanted." And for just a moment there was a flash of gold in his eyes. He let go of her and stood erect once more. "I'm sure you have prepared an excellent presentation for us today. I'm a little disappointed that it won't be necessary."

"It won't be..." Soniee repeated.

And Padme asked. "You mean that the Republic is already prepared to send aid to Mandalore?"

"I mean that no aid is needed." Palpatine gestured benevolently, continuing to smile. "I have just spoken to the Prime Minister and it seems that the threat is over. The Deathwatch has been eliminated and Sundari is at peace once again. Mandalore may retain it's neutral stance with no interference from the Republic."

It sounded wonderful, especially hearing it in the regal voice of the Galactic Chancellor, but something was still bothering Soniee.

She was almost afraid to ask. "You said you spoke to the Prime Minister?"

"Yes, yes. Prime Minister Almec has the capitol well in hand now."

"Almec?" Soniee suddenly felt faint.

A hand reached out to steady her and she looked up into a pair of blue eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine. A bit of a shock that's all." She nodded.

"Miss Ordo, may I introduce, Senator Lux Bonteri." Palpatine's smile seemed only to widen.

"It's very nice to meet you." Lux stepped back and gave her a polite bow.

The response automatically sprang from her lips. "The pleasure is mine."

"Well now." The Chancellor leaned back, hands clasped with an air of accomplishment. "With the mentoring of veterans like Senator Amidala and the encouragement of our young Mister Bonteri here, I'm sure Miss Ordo will do quite well on Coruscant."

Soniee's eyes snapped to Palpatine's face. "I'm sorry?"

"Oh no, I am sorry, I had yet to tell you. Prime Minister Almec knew of your eminent graduation from the Royal Academy of Government and expressed his wish to me that you should stay on as his representative to the Galactic Senate."

"Congratulations," said Lux somewhere beside her.

Padme finally spoke too, "It is quite an honor."

"But I didn't ask for this." Soniee protested. "I just wanted..."

"Humility as well." Palpatine chuckled but then grew serious. "Now we must make our way into the chamber. I don't want to keep Admiral Tarkin waiting. We must see to this Temple business. Such a shame." He shook his head sadly. He stepped out with his followers at his heals but then stopped again.

"Mister Bonteri," the Chancellor added. "Would you be so kind as to escort, Miss Ordo into the chamber? I think she might be more comfortable being attended by someone closer to her own age."

Lux glanced at her apologetically and then bowed politely to the Chancellor. "Yes, Sir. I would be honored."

"Ah the _passions_ of youth." Why did he have to use that word? "Wouldn't we all part with a pile of credits to have their vitality again?"

A few of the senators and advisors around him chuckled and then walked on toward the great rotunda.

Padme touched her arm gently. "I should be going too. Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine." She glanced over at Lux. "Guess I don't have to address them after all." She shrugged.

"We'll talk about this as soon as the session is over." Padme gave her a quick hug and then disappeared behind the door to her own repulsorpod.

After a few moments of silence Lux ventured. "Sorry about that. Not sure why some people feel the need to couple everyone off."

"It's not just that." Soniee turned and sighed. "I thought I'd be able to say my piece and then go home."

"You're from Sundari?"

She nodded. "Grew up on Concord Dawn but yes, before all this I was a student at the Academy."

"I was in Sundari once." He smirked. "Afraid I caused some trouble there."

Soniee bit her lip. "I remember. I was volunteering as a page for the peace talks. But, I think you had a valid reason. Hadn't your mother just died? I'm so sorry."

He nodded, lost in a memory. "Don't know what I would have done if Ahsoka hadn't followed me out of there. I might have been with the Deathwatch who came back to attack your city."

She wasn't sure exactly how those things were connected but she grasped on to what she did know. "Ahsoka's good at that, saving people."

"You know her?" he asked and his face brightened.

Soniee smiled. "She taught a class at our academy once and I just saw her yesterday."

"Ahsoka's here on Coruscant?" He glanced over her shoulder as if he expected the Togruta to suddenly run up the hall.

"She and Master Skywalker are investigating the Temple bombing. Or they were." She frowned. "It sounded like one of the issues on the senate floor today was something about removing that from Jedi jurisdiction."

"Yeah. We should probably get in there and hear what they have to say about it."

"I guess so." Was this going to be her life now, listening to senate hearings and voting on things? Homesickness tugged at her gut.

"Come on." He smiled at her. "It's not so bad."


	23. another long boring debate

nice to have a new friend to chat with during a boring Senate meeting

* * *

"Onderon." She read the word that was etched onto the door panel, first in Basic and then in several other scripts.

"It's the planet I represent," explained Lux.

"Yes, I know." Soniee shook her head. "I mean I knew that but I had forgotten. It's where my mother was from."

"I thought you said you grew up..."

"I was adopted by Clan Ordo, actually. My birth mother was from Onderon." She sighed. "It's all I really know about her. She died in a crash right after I was born."

"Sounds like a play I had to read in school," Lux smirked.

"I was in that play a few weeks ago." She smiled.

"Don't tell me you were..."

She gave him the same deep curtsy that she had performed in her portrayal of the character. "...the Princess of Onderon."

He gave her a shrewd look. "And you're sure it was your mother who died in that crash? You don't think my mother was keeping secrets from me?"

Soniee laughed. "Quite sure."

He grinned as he opened the door to the repulsorpod that was designated to the Onderonian delegation and the grand Galactic Senate Rotunda beyond it.

She hardly had time to be awed by the majesty of the huge round room, walls lined with pods peopled with beings from every corner of the Galaxy, when a bright light shown in hers and Lux's faces.

"And here they are..." It was the Chancellor's voice, amplified to be heard by every being in that grand room.

As Soniee composed herself, she couldn't help but think that she and Lux's late entrance and somewhat guilty smiles we're playing right into someone's hands. Even so, she bowed respectfully toward the holocams that were buzzing around the pod and relaying her image around to the multitude senators and politicians.

"May I introduce Miss Soniee Ordo of the Neutral system of Mandalore." The Chancellor's voice echoed first in basic and was then translated into dozens of other languages for the individual delegations. "You may have seen on our schedule of events for today that Miss Ordo was prepared to give us a presentation on the need for a Republic Military presence to protect her planet from an insurgency that had arisen in the capitol city of Sundari."

There were a few noises of affirmation from the ranks of senators and then the Chancellor continued. "It is my great pleasure to inform you all that the crisis has past and the system of Mandalore shall be allowed to continue in it's neutrality."

There was a smattering of polite applause or whatever else some of these beings did instead of clapping their hands, during which the holocams focused once again on Soniee and she tried to smile triumphantly.

"It is a further pleasure that although Miss Ordo's prepared speech will be unnecessary in today's session we may very well have the opportunity to hear from her in the future as she has agreed to act as the Mandalorian Prime Minister's representative in the Senate."

She nodded and smiled to the cams while Lux whispered with a chuckle in his voice, "You agreed to that, did you?"

"I didn't agree to anything," she growled out of the side of her mouth back at him.

Then thankfully the spotlight shining on her was removed and the holocams floated off to bother someone else.

She plopped down into one of the chairs that were built into the pod's interior.

"You handled that very well, I thought." Lux came to sit beside her.

She watched as a pod detached itself from the wall and a sour looking man with high, sharp cheekbones prepared to speak. "At least I didn't have to say anything." She wondered if the man always looked like that or if he was just angry at being made to wait until after her ridiculous introduction to the Senate.

"I'd say it was a performance worthy of the Princess of Onderon," Lux finished and then burst out laughing.

Soniee rolled her eyes and then she couldn't help but laugh as well. After all the tension it did feel good to laugh with someone her own age.

They attempted to listen to the senate proceedings. It was actually interesting to hear the news that a woman, Letta Turmond, had been apprehended for her involvement in the Temple Bombing and that she was to be removed from the custody of the Jedi and placed in the Republic Military Base prison.

"I'm so glad they caught her." Soniee thought of the Jedi she had met and made friends with.

"I'm glad that they found out it wasn't a Jedi."

Soniee gasped. "Is that what they thought? That it could be a Jedi who bombed their own temple?"

Lux frowned. "Well you spoke to Ashoka. Didn't she say anything about it?"

"I was... being questioned myself. The ship I flew to Coruscant was in the hanger when it..."

"Oh ho! I had no idea I'd been conversing with a suspected criminal."

She swatted him with the back of her hand. "Be serious."

"I'm sorry," said Lux. "I know the bombing is nothing to joke about. It's... terrible."

But Soniee was remembering something else, her ship. How could she get home even if she wanted to?

"How was Ahsoka?" he asked when she hadn't spoken for a few minutes.

"Fine. She was good." She answered. "Well obviously upset about the bombing."

"The temple's her home. Of course, she would be." Lux frowned.

The senators had moved on to some other topic, trade routes or something. Soniee turned to look at her new friend. "You like her, don't you?"

"What? Who? Ahsoka?" He sputtered. "We're friends. We've had some adventures together. That's all."

"But you like her." Soniee grinned.

"Lot of good it'll do since she's on her way to becoming a Jedi Knight," he spat.

"Oh," Soniee quieted and turned to face forward again. "Yes, I forgot."

"Still I..." His grin returned. "I did managed to steal a kiss once."

She laughed. "Good for you."

"So you approve of the Jedi braking their code?"

Soniee thought about that. "Well in some cases I suppose... though, the thing about attachments isn't actually in the code, persay." She could see the wisdom in not allowing one's passions to rule one's head. She glanced down at the center of the rotunda and thought for a moment that the Chancellor caught her eye and that strange yellow glow flared there. Surely that was only a trick of a holocam flash.

Lux was speaking again and she allowed her focus to flit back to him. "So you've done a great deal of research into the loopholes of the Jedi order?"

"Well no." She gave him a smirk of her own. "Though, I am acquainted with someone who would not exist had the rules not been bent several years ago."

"You know the child of a Jedi?" He asked a little too loudly but after looking to their right and left he realized that no one was paying them any attention. He dropped his voice anyway. "Wait. Is that what happened to your parents? Why your mother left Onderon? Was she or your father some kind of Force user?"

The question left her speechless for a moment. She'd never thought of that. "I - I don't know. I don't believe my mother was or she wouldn't have crashed. But my father... I don't know anything at all about him."

He patted her arm that was lying on the arm rest between them. "Some day we'll go back to Onderon together and I'll help you look him up. Well." he backed off embarrassed. "I don't mean... together. Obviously."

"Obviously." she repeated. "Thank you for the offer."


	24. walking backwards

It was a trick she had perfected so that she and Korkie could continue a face to face conversation while walking from class to class down the halls of the Academy. She could sense what was behind her so she never ran into or tripped over anything. And now she was enjoying watching Lux's slightly alarmed face as she took quick backward steps down the curved Senate hallway.

The halls were nearly empty now. They had waited after the recess was called for mid-day meal and though Lux may have thought she was listening at the door for the footsteps to die away Soniee had actually been sensing the beings hurrying to and fro to make their various appointments.

"Well you can't just tell the Chancellor that he's wrong." Lux reached out as if to stop her as she neatly avoided a large vase, coming within a few centimeters of it without looking.

"I'm not going to tell him he's wrong," She answered continuing her confident backward stride. "I'm going to tell him there's been a mistake and I'm going to respectfully decline the offer."

"A mistake that he just announced you as the new Representative of Mandalore."

"I never agreed to it so, yes. I couldn't have very well contradicted him in there, in front of all of those senators and everyone."

"You think it will be easier to contradict him in person?" Lux's eyes suddenly widened at something over her shoulder but she couldn't sense anything at all. She was sure he was just trying to get her to look, until she ran into something solid and a large pale blue hand descended on her shoulder.

"Miss Ordo," said a deep voice.

Soniee spun quickly to see that the hand and voice belonged to the Vice Chancellor, Mas Amedda. She reached out and took hold of Lux's hand. It wasn't just the Chagrian's horns and impressive stature. What bothered her was that she hadn't been able to sense him. It was as if he or someone else had cloaked him in the Force.

He smiled and gave her a slight bow. "Your presence is requested in the Chancellor's chambers. If you would please follow me."

"Y-yes of course." Soniee managed and squeezed Lux's hand a bit tighter to make sure he was coming along with her.

They followed a few steps behind their guide. Lux leaned toward her and whispered. "So I guess this is your chance to, what was it, respectfully decline the offer?"

She raised her chin defiantly, "So it is."

He smiled at her bravado. "And what was all that walking backwards like your some kind of Jedi?"

"I am not a Jedi."

"Oh that's right it's your mysterious, Onderonian father who's the Jedi."

Soniee rolled her eyes. She looked over at him, realized he was just trying to lighten the mood, and smiled.

Soon they reached a set of doors that the Chagrain opened and stood to the side to usher them in. The first thing Soniee noticed was that the Chancellor wasn't alone. There was a large luncheon board set up at one end of the room and several people were gathered around it, including Padme. She saw Soniee and raised her glass in greeting but she must have been in discussion with one of the other senators so she didn't immediately come over.

The second thing that both Soniee and Lux noticed at the same time was that they were still holding hands. Chancellor Palpatine seemed to have noticed this too and he was smiling at them. Soniee and Lux looked down at their joined hands and then at each other's faces and then let go quickly and took a step apart.

Just then Soniee wasn't afraid at all of what she needed to say. The chancellor looked so kind and grandfatherly as if all we wanted to do was grant her every request. She took a step toward him. "Please, Sir, I know what a great honor it is to have been named the representative of my people but I never really wanted any of this. I had hoped that since Sundari is now at peace and they can reopen the Academy that I could go back and finish my exams and graduate properly."

"My dear child." Palpatine held out a hand toward her, drawing her to where he was standing next to a holotable.

Before she went to him she glanced back at Lux and a look of understanding passed between them. He silently wished her luck as he crossed the room toward the other senators and the food. Then Soniee went to join the chancellor at the holotable.

"I know you didn't ask for this responsibility." His soft voice with soothing. "Though you have born up under the shock and the unexpected burden quite well." Then his eyes were so sad that Soniee felt the desire to comfort him even though she knew he was just sympathizing with her. "I am afraid that the Royal Academy of Government will not be reopening in the near future."

Palpatine drew her attention to the holotable and brought up an image from her nightmares. Smoke was rising from the building she had called home.

"No!" The word was muffled by her hands as tears filled her eyes. It wasn't just the building but because she knew...

"The Prime Minister's soldiers found a band of the insurgents who had taken refuge there after you and your friends were sent away." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she felt a surprising strength from the old man. "They wouldn't come quietly so Almec resorted to..."

Soniee tensed. She didn't want to hear and yet she did.

"I'll spare you the details. I'm told it wasn't pretty." He sighed wearily. "But there you see the result, a great institution of higher learning, gone up in flames."

She couldn't help it. She had to know. Soniee closed her eyes and reached out into the Force. She gulped with relief when she found the pinprick of light that represented her only hope. He was alive. He may have been captured or gone into hiding but Korkie was surely alive.

And then, _Good, good. Stretch out with your feelings. You are strong in the Force._

There was power in the voice that spoke to her in her mind and she let it wash over her. She answered it silently, _But my home has been destroyed. There is no peace..._

 _There is no peace,_ the voice repeated her words and went on. _There is only passion._

 _There is only passion_ , Soniee breathed the words.

 _Through passion, I gain strength_ , the voice led her. _Through strength, I gain power._

But Almec had the power. He had driven Korkie into hiding or ... or had captured him.

 _Through power, I gain victory_ , the voice continued.

"Victory," She whispered aloud.

 _Through victory, my chains are broken..._

Her eyes snapped open as the last of the words came to her.

 _The Force shall free me._

She hadn't realized that she had raised her hand and she was actually, physically reaching forward toward the holoimage of the Academy. Her fingers broke the stream of the smoky blue glow and for a second she wasn't sure if it was the broken image or the sparks of electricity dancing between her fingertips.

"I can save him," she whispered.

"What was that you said, My dear?"

The voice from over her shoulder made her jump. The chancellor was still standing there.

"I." Soniee dropped her hand to her side. "Sir, I need to go back there. I need to make sure that my friends are okay."

"But don't you see that you can be a help to them here?"

She turned and looked at him. "How?"

"Prime Minister Almec has placed his trust in you." The chancellor smiled encouragingly but a spike of hatred flared within her. The man was evil. He had to be stopped.

 _Good_ , said the voice in her mind again. _Use your hate!_

"You can work with him from this end to find diplomatic solutions to the problems of your world," the chancellor went on.

 _Work with him or bring him down,_ Soniee thought and then she spoke, "I suppose I could stay for a while to ... help."

The chancellor patted her shoulder and smiled even as the voice laughed triumphantly in her mind.


	25. Udesii

Getting into the episode "The Jedi Who Knew Too Much". Soniee is still struggling with the idea of passion vs. peace and remembering her Mando heritage.

* * *

For a solemn Jedi ceremony, Soniee sensed an incredible amount of emotion. And it wasn't primarily from the non-Jedi attendees but from the Jedi themselves that she could feel anger that part of their home had been destroyed, fear that it could happen again, and an overwhelming sadness at the loss of their friends. She recognized many of the faces in the risers directly across room. The chancellor and Mas Amedda, Master Windu, Master Kenobi, and Master Skywalker and there were Ahsoka and Barris. Soniee stood between Padme and Lux. They had been invited along with several other senate representatives to stand alongside the Jedi in their grief.

Lux was a turmoil of emotions beside her. His eyes weren't on the six bodies but instead on the Togruta Padawan who stood across from them. Soniee sensed that he sympathized with Ahsoka for the events that had taken place but he also just longed to be near her and those feelings made him feel guilty in this place of mourning.

Soniee took his hand in hers and whispered, "Udesii, ner vod." _Be at peace, my brother_ , and she tried to infuse the words with a wave of calm as she had done sometimes for Korkie when he was feeling distressed.

But then that voice reared up in her head once again, _There is no peace, only passion. You could comfort him with passion. Make him forget all about the other girl._

Soniee blushed and dropped Lux's hand like it had burned her. She turned her gaze to the chancellor and found that he was looking back at her with that grandfatherly smile. He seemed to assure her that she had done nothing wrong. She was only trying to help a friend.

She pushed the thoughts from her mind then, and tried to focus on Master Yoda's eulogy, "One with the Force, they are. And our job it is to remember that we will, in time, also pass on. Luminous beings are we, but temporary vessels our bodies are. And we shall all find ourselves here, in time. A moment of silence, I ask, to remember and move on. Live for the living Jedi, we must. Live through us, forever they will." then he tapped his stick on the floor and the 6 bodies descended into the floor, were sealed over, and a bright light shot up from each one.

His words reminded her of the daily remembrance she should repeat as a good Mando'ad. She whispered, "Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la" _Not gone, merely marching far away._ And promised herself that she'd be better about that in the future. She wanted to catch up with Ahsoka and Barris to convey her condolences and she knew that Lux did also but the Chancellor stopped them before they were able to hurry after the padawans.

"How very kind of both of you to join in the sorrows of strangers." He nodded to them both. "You did not even know the deceased and yet you come to mourn them as friends, but then," He paused and frowned at them both. "You have both suffered losses of your own recently."

Lux and Soniee looked at each other. She had lost Amis and the Duchess and she knew that Lux's mother had been killed almost a year before but was there someone else he was still mourning?

Palpatine patted Soniee on the shoulder. "It's good to see that the two of you are becoming such good friends and that you can comfort each other." As he walked away Soniee heard the echo of that voice again, _Comfort him with passion_.

She swallowed and put a bit more distance between herself and the boy.

"That was strange," Lux grumbled when the chancellor had finally left them. "and now we've missed getting to speak to anyone else. They've all gone."

Soniee looked around and noticed that he was right. While the Chancellor had been talking to them the rest of the crowd had dispersed. Well, not all of them, Padme was still near by speaking to Senator Mothma of Chandrila. She waved for them to join her so that they could return to her apartment for lunch. The senate would not meet for the rest of the day in deference to the Jedi day of mourning.

While they ate sandwiches and Padme went in the other room to catch up on some holocomms, Lux asked her, "What was it you said during the ceremony?"

Soniee tried to remember. She had forgotten that she had said anything but then, "Oh, I said, 'Udesii, ner vod.' It's Mando'a for, Be at peace, my brother."

"It really did make me feel better. I almost thought it might be a charm or an incantation." He admitted feeling foolish.

"You think I'm a magician, now?" she tried to laugh it off.

He frowned, "I'm still not entirely sure you're not a Jedi."

She tried to change the subject but it came out sounding more brash than she would have liked. "The Chancellor said you had lost someone. I knew about your mother but was there someone else?" She bit her lip and then retracted. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm sorry to pry."

"No, it's alright." He began and then paused. "He said we ought to share our sorrows, right?" Lux took a deep breath. "There was a girl, a young woman rather, whom Ahsoka and I fought alongside for the freedom of Onderon. She was a leader of the people. Her name was Steela."

So it wasn't just Ahsoka he was pining after, Soniee realized. She reminded him of someone else he had been close to.

"I'm sorry," she said, head bowed.

"And what about you?" he asked. "He said you had lost someone, too?"

"Well the Duchess," Soniee began. "She was very good to all of us cadets. But... also my friend Amis. There was a battle and I cried out and he turned to see if I was alright and ... He was the first boy I ever kissed." She wasn't sure why she added that last bit and her cheeks went pink as soon as she had said it.

"I'm sorry, too," Lux whispered.

"There's something we say on Mandalore to remember those who have passed on." Soniee explained to him in a rush. "We're supposed to repeat it every night but I haven't been very religious about it lately."

"Will you teach it to me?" he asked eagerly.

"Alright," she began. "The first part goes, _Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc_ and it means I'm still alive, but you are dead."

"Well that's pleasant." He looked unsure but then he repeated the words after her. " _Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc_."

She finished with a small smile. "N _i partayli, gar darasuum_ , I remember you so you are eternal."

"You are eternal..." He repeated softly in basic and then he chanted the whole last line in Mando'a with her.

"Then we list the names of the people we want to remember. I don't know the names of my birth parents so I've always just listed them as _Buire_."

"My _Buire_ as well." He nodded solemnly.

"Duchess Satine," Soniee added.

"Steela Gerrera."

"Amis Lok."

They had joined hands again at some point during the recitation. Soniee hadn't even noticed. She still wanted to comfort him and before she could stop herself, almost as if she were compelled to do so, she leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek. Even this chaste touch awoke something in her that wanted more. It was wrong, though. She loved Korkie. They were going to be married. She pulled her hands away and refused to meet his eyes. "So... that's basically all it is."

 _Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power._

She clenched her eyes shut and tried to push the thoughts away but they seemed to hang there between she and the boy who was not Korkie.

"Thank you for teaching me," Lux said softly, obviously confused by her reaction.

Padme swept into the room, datapad in hand. "Well, that was the Chancellor. That man never takes a day off. He wants to meet with you tomorrow, Soniee and have a holo conference with Prime Minister Almec and then he said..." she stopped and looked at them both. "I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

Soniee was still internally warring with her emotions and couldn't speak. But Lux stood and addressed the Senator politely. "Miss Ordo was just explaining to me how they honor their departed on Mandalore."

She chanced a look up at him and saw only kindness in his blue eyes.

"But I really should be going." He smiled at Padme and gave her a slight bow. "Thank you for the lunch and the company." He glanced back at Soniee and then headed for the door.

"Your welcome," said Padme obviously curious what had taken place in her absence. "Just a moment, though. This concerns you as well."

He stopped at the door and looked back.

"Palpatine wishes to honor Soniee with a gathering to introduce her to some of the members of the Senate."

"Oh no," Soniee groaned. "I really don't want... especially now..."

"Now it won't be a big party just a few of the younger senators for drinks at 500 Republica. He believes that it will help take everyone's mind off the bombing and the war."

Soniee wasn't convinced.

"Lux is invited of course." Padme smiled at him. "So you know you'll have one friend to talk to."

"I.. can't wait." he tried to sound excited.

Then the holotable pinged in the other room and Padme ran to get it.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Soniee said softly. "I'd rather not go myself if it wasn't in my... honor."

"No really I want to come..." he began but then they both heard a cry from the other room and ran to see what was wrong.

Padme was gripping the edge of the holotable. "It's that woman, Letta Turmond. She's been killed."

"But I thought she was in the Republic Military prison," Soniee questioned. "Who could have..."

"Ahsoka!" Padme cried. "They have her in custody. They're saying it was Ahsoka who killed her."

"There must be some mistake," Lux rushed forward and activated the table to see the message for himself.

Soniee sunk down into a chair. It was simply too much to take.


	26. Ordo'Buir

for every 17 year old girl who's ever had a screaming fight with her momma but still knows that momma loves her and wants what's best for her. and stretching my Mando'a muscles again. i will be conversational in Mando'a by the end of this story.

* * *

The three of them sat in Padme's livingroom staring at nothing. Soniee was sure that the others, like herself were just waiting for another comm to come, for someone to tell them that it had been a misunderstanding or some sort of cruel joke. None of them believed that Ahsoka could possibly have killed that woman.

Suddenly Lux stood up making the two women jump. "I really should go," he said. Soniee could sense that he just had to be doing something. He couldn't sit still any longer. "Please let me know if you hear anything?"

Padme nodded. "Of course."

Then before he left he looked back, "Soniee, if I don't see you before then, I'll be looking forward to your party or gathering or what ever it's supposed to be."

"You think that will still happen?" She asked.

"Oh if I know Palpatine, he's not going to let a little thing like murder deter his plans." Padme said rather coldly.

"Then I'll see you there." Soniee tried to smile at Lux but it probably came out more like a grimace.

"Good day." He nodded once more to both of them and then left.

"Not much good about it." Soniee mumbled after they had sat in silence for a few more minutes.

Padme agreed sadly. "No, there's not."

And then Soniee couldn't sit still any longer, either. "Padme, is it alright if I send a comm?"

"What?" she asked distractedly. "Oh, oh yes, of course. Just... if another comm tries to come through let me know right away."

"Of course." She ran quickly to the guest room to grab her helmet and then to the room devoted to the holotable and closed the door behind her for privacy.

She should have figured out how to place this comm while the Academy was on lockdown or at least when the network came back on-line. She should have tried again when all the instructors and cadets were sent home from the Academy and she and the others had asked to stay. She could have at least commed to tell that she had made it to Coruscant safely especially after the news that the Academy had been bombed. But after their argument the night of the play, Momma Ordo was the very last person who Soniee wanted to speak to.

She knew Ordo'Buir was probably worried sick about her and she paced beside the table for a full 5 minutes trying to figure out what she was going to say before she finally tapped in the code for Momma's garage. She had no idea what time it was on Concord Dawn. Maybe Momma wouldn't be there and she could just leave a message.

Almost as soon as she had activated the comm, however the image and voice of Veeka Ordo appeared, "Yep. What can I do for..." A wrench clanged on the duracreet floor. "Soniee? _Son'ika_ , _Su cuy'gar!_ " Soniee knew that her mother really meant the literal 'You're still alive!' translation rather than just a generic hello.

Soniee's eyes began to fill with tears and her chin wobbled. "I am _Ordo'Buir_." No matter what they had argued about it was still overwhelming to see her adopted mother again, wearing her coveralls, wiping grease from her hands with a cloth. Soniee wished she could throw her arms around the woman and be hugged in return rather than just look through the blue holo image projected over the table.

"Where have you been? You're calling from..." Soniee knew she was looking at the data read-out for the origin of the call. "Coruscant? And what are you wearing?"

Soniee looked down she didn't even remember what it was. "I went to a funeral. I borrowed the dress. It's a long story really."

"Well I want to hear it, Son'ika. Every bit." She pulled over a stool and sat looking expectant.

Soniee took a deep breath. "Alright." And she began to tell the story.

Only once did Momma interrupt, "Is that Kryze boy there with you?"

"No, Momma, I don't know where he is."

"I still don't like the idea of..."

"I love him!" Soniee asserted stubbornly.

But Veeka was just as adamant. "Son'ika, I'm only trying to protect you. If he ever found out..."

"He knows what I am, _Buir_. He's known for a long time. He doesn't hate me or fear me or want to use me. He loves me. He asked me to marry him."

"Son'ika, you're too young to be thinking about..."

"Ni d _ar'adiik, Buir_!" I'm no longer a child, Mother! She yelled and then took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. "Chancellor Palpatine has named me as the Representative to the Galactic Senate for the system of Mandalore. I've already made an official address to the Jedi Council and tomorrow I have a meeting with Prime Minister Almec about my official position."

Her mother was speechless.

"I haven't just been kissing boys and acting in plays at the Academy. They taught me some useful things too."

"I- I'm sorry, Soniee. I know that." Veeka swallowed. "Part of me will always think of you as that _ad'ika_ I pulled out of the freighter wreckage. It- I think it's wonderful all the things you've accomplished." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "Maybe I just hoped you'd come back home from the Academy and join me working here. Guess I never had much hope of that, you up there in Sundari learning about senates and politics and all that, with the nephew of a Duchess. Always knew you were meant for bigger things."

" _Buir_ , I..." Soniee let her own tears fall unchecked. "I kind of wish I could just come back home and fix ships. Everything is so big here, so complicated, and I'm so afraid that I'll get it wrong. My friend Amis died and the Duchess and I couldn't be with Korkie to comfort him and now I have no idea where he is and I miss him so much."

"Oh my dear Son'ika. Tell me what I can do to help. I can..." Veeka looked around the garage as if the answer might present itself. "I can come there and be with you if you wish or or I can try to search for your Korkie."

"Could you, _Buir_?" Soniee brightened, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "I don't know if they captured him or if he's in hiding but I know he's alive. I know it. I can sense it."

"You must really love him if you can sense him all the way from there."

"I do, _Buir. Ni kar'tayl kaysh_!" I _know_ him! She used the word because 'to know' was stronger even than 'to love' in their Mandalorian culture. And she did know him, like she had never known anyone before or ever. It didn't matter if they were only 17. Soniee would never feel about anyone else the way she felt about Korkie.

"I'll find him then." Veeka assured her. "I have contacts in Keldabe and Sundari with MandalMotors. You said you flew a Kom'rk to Coruscant?"

"Two hyperjumps." Soniee smiled. "It was so good to be in the cockpit of one of those again."

Veeka smiled proudly. "Maybe I can track down your boy through the owner of the ship."

" _Vor entye, Ordo'Buir_!" Thank you, Momma Ordo.

" _Aliit darasuum, Son'ika_!" Family always, little Soniee.

"Oh I wanted to show you my new buy'ce." Soniee lifted her helmet to show off the Ordo symbol painted on the crown. "Aliit darasuum."

Veeka could only smile. Then she kissed her fingers and held them up. Soniee did the same, reaching out to touch the holoimage.

When the comm ended, Soniee felt better than she had in days. She had made up her fight with, Momma Ordo and Momma was going to search for Korkie. She couldn't wait to tell Padme but when she opened the door to the livingroom the first thing she saw was two people kissing. One of them was Padme but the other...

Quickly Soniee shut the door again but she left it open just a crack. She couldn't help herself. She had to know what was going on.

"Anakin," Padme said when the two broke apart. "You can't think she's guilty of this?"

 _Anakin?_ Soniee thought. _Not Master Anakin Skywalker?_ But then he spoke and it couldn't be anyone else.

"I'm positive she didn't have anything to do with the bombing but she was so angry at Letta and that she'd been moved out of Jedi jurisdiction. Ahsoka wanted revenge and - and that holorecording from the cell. She was the only one in the room when the woman was choked with the Force."

"What does Ahsoka say happend?" Padme asked.

"She says she didn't do it, that someone is setting her up and ... I believe her."


	27. call me maybe

'cause i thought Commander Fox was pretty adorable in that other chapter so i had to bring him back.

* * *

The comm light was blinking on Soniee's helmet when she picked it up the next morning. She didn't think anyone had the ID code for it yet so it caught her by surprise but then she saw that it was just a general alert. There was a wanted picture in the HUD's visual. Ahsoka had escaped and was described as armed and dangerous.

Soniee didn't want to look at it. She didn't want to believe it. There was something else she had planned on doing with the helmet's comm system.

Oh yes. She had been planning on pinging Momma's garage so that Momma would have her ID code and could comm as soon as she found out anything about Korkie. But when she went to the code list, she found that someone had already programed in an ID. It wasn't a code she was familiar with and who could have entered it in to the memory? She'd only had the helmet for a few days and as far as she knew she'd been the only one to mess with the systems.

Unless... perhaps Bo-Katan had entered in a code to use to contact her back on Mandalore? And and Korkie would be with her! Yes, that had to be it! It had been here all the time! All she had to do was comm Bo and she would be able to talk to Korkie! She would be able to tell him that she had accepted his proposal!

Soniee wasted no time activating the comm to the saved code. But it wasn't Korkie who answered or even Bo-Katan...

"Commander Fox, here." There was heavy breathing as if he were running and then the sound of blaster fire.

"Fox?" Soniee repeated, shocked.

"Miss Ordo, it's you. I uh, it's really not the best time for me to talk."

"You programed your comm ID into my helmet?" she asked.

"Yeah," another round from a blaster and yelling in the distance. "thought maybe you might want to talk sometime, about tech or somethin'."

Soniee smiled. It was kind of sweet really that he would want to stay in contact with her.

"Really though, Miss. It's kind of a bad time. Maybe later I could..."

"You're running." she observed and heard another round and if she wasn't mistaken what sounded like a lightsaber being activated. "Are you fighting or... or chasing someone?" She gasped. "You're chasing Ahsoka!"

"Can't talk about it now..."

"Please you, you don't really think she's guilty do you?" she asked, worried.

"I don't blame her for offing the bomber, really I don't. But, she's killed my brothers and fled the scene."

Soniee gulped. "You saw her kill them?"

"Not exactly." he answered impatiently but he still hadn't ended the comm. "I was the first one in the cell after the Turmond woman was killed. She was the only one in there with her. And then my brothers were definitely killed with a lightsaber. Don't know who else it would have been."

"Anyone else with a lightsaber or access to one?" she suggested.

"Well yeah," he sounded flustered. "I suppose. But she was running away from the scene."

"It does sound suspicious." she agreed. "But you're not going to hurt her are you? You'll give her a chance to explain?"

"Orders are to stun the suspect and bring her in."

"Good." Soniee sighed. "I'm glad."

"Er, Miss Ordo." It sounded as if he had stopped running.

"Please, it's Soniee."

"Soniee." He swallowed. "I know you and the senator..."

"The senator?" she asked.

"The one from Onderon."

"Lux Bonteri?" she wondered what he had do do with anything.

Fox cleared his throat. "I know the two of you..."

"Lux and I are just friends." How would he even know that much? And why would he care?

He took a breath as if he had been holding it. "Then you wouldn't mind if I commed you back sometime? I can't talk now, gotta run, literally. But when I'm free?"

"I ... guess so."

"Till then... Soniee." The comm ended, leaving her feeling rather confused.

Then suddenly it dawned on her. "Fierfek," she cursed.

"Language!" came Padme's voice from the other room and the senator poked her head into Soniee's room.

"Oh I'm sorry." Soniee moaned.

"What's wrong?" Padme came and sat on the end of the bed.

Soniee sighed. "You know that... Commander Fox. I think... I think he has a crush on me."

Padme laughed. "I could have told you that when he dropped you off here after your questioning."

"He programed his comm ID into my helmet and ... and he asked me about Lux. I told him we were just friends but I don't know how he even knew... I should have said something about Korkie. I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"No," Padme shook her head more seriously. "It's probably better this way. The fewer people who know about Korkie right now the better."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that." Soniee bit her lip. She didn't want to put Korkie in danger. "You think I should encourage him then?"

"Well, it wouldn't be very fair to lead on any young man and then break his heart but I don't think being friendly would hurt anyone." Padme reached out and patted her arm.

Soniee sighed. "It sounds a bit like the duchess and Viszla."

"Did she tell you that story?"

"No," she smiled. "Korkie and I went searching through the old holos after she told him that she was his mom. He wanted to see if he could tell she was pregnant in any of them."

Padme smiled. "At least you don't have anything like that to hide. You don't, do you?"

"No! I mean no, nothing like that. Korkie and I, well, I mean... no. Thankfully." Soniee blushed and then she remembered. "There was something else that Fox said though."

"Oh?"

"He was running after Ahsoka. She escaped somehow and they think she killed clones. But Ahsoka would never do that, would she?"

Padme frowned. "No, as long as I've known her she's always had the greatest respect for her men."

Soniee nodded. "He said they were only supposed to stun her and bring her in."

"Well that's something at least, but I can't help but think things would go better for her if she turned herself in."

"Maybe she's trying to find out who really did it." Soniee wondered.

"We can only hope that she finds out quickly."


	28. Representative Ordo

Soniee's meeting with the Galactic Chancellor and the Prime Minister of Mandalore. Secrets, Lies and a gift that she could never have expected.

* * *

To prepare for her meeting with the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, Soniee simply pulled up her lesson notes from her Government class. As she skimmed through them, looking over the policies and systems and institutions, she started to feel like, just maybe, she could pull this off after all. She knew this stuff.

She would have performed well on her exams, if she'd been allowed to take them. She wished she could have. It was silly but it felt like it was all for naught if she didn't have the certificate to hang up on the wall to prove it. Momma Ordo would have liked to have something like that to frame and show off to the rest of the clan.

Thinking of Momma, Soniee was glad that she had made the comm and cleared the air. She was wary of that voice popping up in her head again and she braced herself for it, but she reached out into the Force anyway to find the people she loved. She needn't have worried. Momma's star shone bright with no interference, and there was Korkie's. Momma was looking for him. Momma would find him.

Lagos's star was still broken. Soniee wondered if it always would be, if her friend would never get over losing Amis. Maybe they had been so close that she now carried a part of him with her. The thought made Soniee smile. N _i partayli, gar darasuum._ I remember you, so you are eternal _._

"Almost ready?" Padme's voice broke her concentration.

Soniee sighed, "Yeah, I think I am."

"I'm going to be doing some work in my office during your meeting so I'll just be a few floors down if you need anything."

"Thanks." Soniee really did appreciate the veteran Senator taking her under her wing, but she was starting to feel more confident in her own abilities. The only thing that was really bothering her about the prospect of the meeting was having to work with Prime Minister Almec.

She hated the man, everything he stood for. He had betrayed Duchess Satine, stood by while she was murdered, and then stepped up into her place. Soniee wondered if it was possible for her to throttle him through a holo image. If so she might be tempted to do it during their conference.

Even as she thought it sparks danced between her fingertips and she rubbed her hands together trying to calm herself and make it stop. Curiously the voice that had so often whispered to her in moments of anger and passion was silent just now. She hoped it was gone for good.

She needed to control herself. If Almec had captured Korkie she may be able to find out today. If she could ask the right questions or or maybe he would just come right out with it hoping to use Korkie to control her. He would know that they had been friends but would he expect they were more?

Padme was right. It probably would be safer to pretend there was nothing between them. Maybe she could ask Lux if he wouldn't mind being part of a deception. Nothing serious, just holding hands, going places together. That couldn't hurt, could it?

Fox wouldn't like it. She smiled. She had warmed to the idea of how sweet it really was that the Commander had taken a shine to her. She'd take it as a complement and leave it at that.

She insisted on walking alone from the lift down the hall to the Chancellor's office. She knew where it was now and supposed she'd better start getting used to not having a chaperon or a guard with her everywhere she went.

"Come in," called Palpatine's cheerful voice as the door slid open. He was alone and it was quiet in the chamber, even though the sky outside the windows was stormy. And there was a citrus-y smell of...

"Is that shig, Chancellor?" she asked.

"Yes." He smiled. "I wondered if you'd know it. I had the droid brew us up a pot. Thought it might be a nice taste of home for you."

Soniee closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. The hot drink did make her think of home.

"So you're feeling comfortable, ready for our meeting?" He asked.

"Yes, I think so. So far it's not much different from having a cup with my old ba'buir." Her eyes grew wide and she hurried to apologize. "I don't mean to say that you're old like my grandfather, Sir."

He gave her a playful scowl that didn't reach the sparkle in his eyes. "I most certainly am old and don't you forget it." Palpatine winked at her and smiled again. "I wouldn't trade any of the experiences that brought me to this point in my life, my dear. And it's experience that we're about to start building for you, so you can look back one day with pride for all you've accomplished."

She nodded.

He poured the shig himself and handed her a steaming cup, gesturing to a chair where she should sit. Then after pouring a cup for himself, he didn't take the seat behind his desk, but instead sat across from her where they could chat more intimately.

"Now before we place this comm with the Prime Minister," He began, looking concerned. "I didn't fail to notice that when I mentioned Almec's name before it made you rather uncomfortable."

"It did, Sir." She admitted looking down into her cup.

"Maybe you could explain to me why that is and I could try to help."

Soniee took a deep breath and tried to think how to put her apprehension into words. "Well, Sir, my friends and I were very loyal to the Duchess and she and Prime Minister Almec were not on good terms."

Palpatine nodded. "Had him put in prison for a year for dealing in the black market."

"You," she looked up at him. "knew about that, Sir?"

"Well of course." He smiled. "But you must remember, Soniee that they were also once friends." His smile faded. "Even the best of us can be tempted to corruption. Your Prime Minister fell to that temptation but we must give him the benefit of the doubt that he saw the error of his ways while he was incarcerated and that he is now prepared to lead Mandalore in a manor worthy of our trust."

Soniee couldn't quite believe that. "Do... you think so, Sir?"

The Chancellor looked at her seriously. "If I was not sure of it, I would have allowed you to make your speech to the senate and sponsored the vote to send troops to remove Almec from his post."

She thought about that for a moment and eventually nodded.

"Then we're understood?" He asked and rose from his seat.

"Yes, Chancellor." She took a fortifying sip of her drink, set it on a table, and also stood. She followed him to the holotable where he had shown her the image of the Academy in flames.

Palpatine raised his hand toward the table's controls but then stopped and smiled at her again. "Now we're not going to make this a boring policy meeting today. This is mostly just for introductions and so we all agree on our positions, alright?"

She smiled and said, "Yes, Sir." but inside she was thinking of how she had already been introduced to this _aruetii,_ traitor, and how she'd been considering strangling him.

"Just like afternoon shig with your ba'buir," he added.

Soniee laughed. In truth, the Chancellor couldn't be more different from her grandfather, Veeka's father, the expert marksman in his black beskar armor. But Ba'buir did enjoy is afternoon shig with a bit of tihaar added to give it a kick.

She was still smiling at the comparison when the image of Prime Minister Almec materialized over the holotable.

"Chancellor Palpatine," Almec bowed first toward the person of greater importance and then to Soniee. "Representative Ordo."

She couldn't help but grin, having never heard someone address her by the official title before. It was pretty _Kandosii_. Then she mastered herself to return the greeting with a nod and curtsy of her own, "Prime Minister." The words tasted sour in her mouth and all memory of her former smile faded.

"You can't imagine how glad I was to hear that you were safely on Coruscant at the time of the unfortunate incident at The Academy," Almec simpered.

She wanted to say, 'No I can't imagine that at all,' but she kept silent and only nodded.

"And just before your graduation was scheduled," he continued shaking his head sadly. "We would of course like to send you an honorary graduation certificate..."

"If you please, Sir." Soniee interrupted him. "I'd rather not receive a certificate I didn't earn. I believe Duchess Satine finished her final exams by holo before she graduated. I would like to follow in her footsteps. If that can be arranged?"

Her heart was hammering. She'd been thinking about this for a while now and had planned out exactly how she would ask. Now she was just happy that the words had come out as she'd rehearsed them.

Almec looked grudgingly impressed. "She did in fact finish her whole final year of classes by holo in just a few months. It was I who arranged it for her."

Soniee couldn't be sure but she thought the old fraud might have been a little nostalgic but then he was all business again. "I'll take a look at the records and send you what you require within the week."

"Thank you, Sir." She nodded.

Palpatine's hand rested on her shoulder. "You see, Prime Minister, you really couldn't have asked for a more appropriate candidate to represent your system."

"I believe you are right, Chancellor. And although she won't accept our honorary degree we would like to bestow upon her another gift that should be arriving shortly. I was under the impression that Miss Ordo had to leave Sundari in rather a rush without time to pack her things. These should make up for that loss." His holoimage gestured to where behind she and the Chancellor, the doors to Palpatine's office were opened and a group of Senate guards carried in three large trunks followed by an agitated LEP unit.

"Be careful! Be careful!" the bunny droid bustled around the trunks as they were set down and the guards turned to leave. "These things are now the property of Miss Soniee Ordo." She, because the droid's voice was most certainly female, spun around looking for her new master. "Miss Ordo?" She caught sight of Soniee, took her hand, and led her back to the trunks. "I am LEP-1K0 it will be a pleasure to serve you."

Soniee looked at the Chancellor, confused. He just smiled and gestured for her to continue on and open her gift. She'd never owned her own droid before. That was extravagant enough. She had no idea what to expect from the trunks. When she opened the first one, she gasped. They were clothes, Satine's clothes. She lifted a blue jeweled headband out of the trunk with tears welling in her eyes.

"I can't... I can't accept this." The words came out as hardly a whisper and the men may not have heard her.

"We agreed that she would have wanted you to have them," Almec said benevolently. "And there should be garments there that are appropriate for all of the state functions you will be attending in the future."

She wanted to scream. How did he know what the Duchess wanted? What did he care? She kept her back to the holotable not trusting herself for her actions if she saw his _chakaar_ face just now.

"Appropriate also," he continued. "Since if her nephew had inherited her position and the two of you had married then that would have made you the next Duchess of Mandalore."

Soniee was shaking but she carefully set down the headband before she dropped it or more likely launched it at the holotable. She could feel both men looking at her and knew that they would be gaging every word out of her mouth. They wanted to know what she knew about Korkie. Which meant, that they didn't know anything.

"Korkie and me?" She asked with more control in her voice than she felt. She turned back toward the holotable with her hands clenched tightly behind her back. The building electricity only barely hidden. "No, it was never Korkie and me. It was... Amis." She lied and let her angry tears spill over her cheeks. "Amis Lok was the reason I stayed in Sundari after everyone else had been sent home. Clan Ordo, Clan Lok, we would never have been allowed to see each other again. We were caught up in the battle of Sundari and... and he was killed." The tears were real even if the story was doctored. "I... I just happened on that Kom'rk fighter. I knew how to fly them because my mother worked on them when I was a little girl. And I just wanted to run away." She dashed away the tears with a sleeve and hurriedly put her hand behind her back again. "Not very Mando of me, I know. But imagine my surprise when when that Jedi Kenobi climbed aboard and asked to be taken to Coruscant. I didn't know what else to do."

Chancellor Palpatine placed his hands on both her shoulders. "My dear sweet girl, I had no idea of all that you'd been through." He pulled her into a hug but she didn't hug him back.

She was still trying to hide her hands and she didn't like lying to this grandfatherly man who was being so kind to her.

It was the droid, to her surprise, who retrieved her cup of shig from the table and brought it to her. "Miss Ordo, drink this, it will make you feel better."

Soniee clenched her fists so hard that she could feel her nails cut in to her palms. She hoped the pain was enough to drive the sparks away. Then she reached out with her mercifully unelectrified hands and took the cup from the droid. "Thank you," she told the LEP unit.

"As I said, I am at your service, Miss Ordo."

Then Palpatine spoke, "I think maybe our new Representative has been through enough for today. Perhaps we should continue our meeting at a later date."

Soniee concentrated on her shig but she watched out of the corner of her eye while Almec's image bowed, said a formal farewell, and then dematerialized.

She turned and looked again at the three trunks of clothing and the Chancellor put an arm around her shoulders again.

"It is quite a princely gift. I can understand that you would be overwhelmed by the gesture," he said softly. "But a useful one that I hope you will accept with good grace."

She nodded and took another drink from her cup. Soniee was thinking about Korkie. She was sure now that they didn't know where he was anymore than she did. She wondered what he would think to see her dressed up in one of his mother's fine garments. She would wear them, if she must, and think of him.

"And perhaps," Palpatine went on. "There may be something appropriate for you to wear to our little gathering this evening."

Soniee swallowed a gulp of shig and then tried for a smile. "I'm sure there will be, Chancellor."

* * *

The droid, 1K0 was first introduced in The Duchess Diaries chapter: "Leave all this to Yesterday" Both Satine and Soniee receive the gift from rather questionable sources.


	29. the dress

again it helps to have a big sister/mentor around.

* * *

The first thing Padme did when Soniee's 'gift' was delivered to her apartment was to have the entire contents, including the droid, scanned for monitoring devices. She shared Soniee's skepticism that it was given out of the goodness of the Prime Minister's heart.

"Maybe he just did it to put me off guard or to judge my reaction." Soniee suggested after the scans came back clean. "I mean he could have sent them any time it didn't have to be right there in the Chancellor's office."

"Oh I'm sure he wanted to see your reaction. I'm just not sure what he was hoping your reaction would be." Padme frowned. "You said he mentioned Korkie?"

Soniee nodded. "He said if Korkie had been the heir and he and I had been married that ... I would have been the next Duchess." The thought still turned her stomach. She had never even considered such a thing much less wanted it. But what if that's what people thought, that she only wanted to marry Korkie for his position?

"You hadn't told anyone in Sundari about your engagement?"

"I hadn't accepted his proposal yet when I left. I don't even know if he knows that I said yes. I left a message on the comm system ... in my dorm room." Soniee paled. "You don't think someone else got the comm before they destroyed the Academy?"

"Honestly?" Padme thought. "No, I don't. They knew that you and Korkie were friends that would have been enough for them to make an assumption. You covered well, by saying that you stayed in Sundari to be with Amis."

"It was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Now that you are certain I am not a bug or a bomb, can we please pick out a dress for Miss Ordo to wear to the party tonight?" The bunny droid's unexpected question caused them both to burst out laughing.

"Ugg." Soniee sighed. "Why does there even have to be a kriffing party?"

"Soniee Ordo, does your mother know you use this kind of language?"

"It's her fault." Soniee giggled. "She used to have a jar when I was a kid, and had to put in a credit every time she said a word that I wasn't supposed to say."

Even as she explained this 1K0 had Soniee stand up and started taking her measurements. "Hm I may have to take in some seams..." The droid carefully rustled through one of the crates and pulled out a bundle of burgundy colored fabric.

"I don't know," Padme started looking in another of the crates. "You might have to get your own apartment just to have a place to put all of these." She stopped talking when see saw the dress that the droid had laid out on the bed with a matching gold belt and hair comb. "I can remember her wearing that..."

It wasn't flashy, just a simple long sleeved gown, fitted with a long skirt that had a slit just to the left of the center front.

"I'd forgotten how tall she was." Soniee reached out to brush a speck from the cloth.

"The skirt fell to the Duchess's ankles but she preferred flat soled shoes." 1K0 informed them. "With heals it should be sufficient for your height."

Soniee drew her hand away. "I couldn't possibly..."

"You must try it on now so I will have time to make any necessary alterations." The droid lifted the dress and put it into Soniee's arms.

She looked to Padme for help.

"You'll look lovely in it." Padme smiled. "And I do think Satine would have approved of you being the one to receive these things whatever Almec's intentions were."

"Do you really think so?" Soniee hugged the dress.

Padme laughed. "Go try it on!"

Soniee took the dress to the 'fresher and carefully lifted it over her head. What would Korkie think? She thought while she looked in the mirror and again wished they could be together.

"Come on. Don't keep us in suspense!" Padme called.

The extra length of the skirt pooled around her bare feet as she stepped out of the 'fresher but the modest bodice hugged her curves nicely. "What do you think?"

"I think we're going to have to get a holo for Korkie," said Padme.

1K0 put the belt around her waist. "Yes, it will do. Now remove it so I can prepare it for this evening." and she took the belt off again.

Soniee laughed and saluted the droid, "Well, yes ma'am."

"You will not know how you survived before my arrival," 1K0 squeaked cheekily.

Back in the outfit she had borrowed from Padme, Soniee joined the senator in looking through the rest of the garments.

"Now forgive me if I'm wrong." Padme said holding out a maker's tag for Soniee to see. "But isn't this the Deathwatch symbol?"

"It's a common misconception." Soniee nodded. "That's the Viszla Clan mark. Most of them were not very happy about the Ex-governor using it for his extremist group."

"Clan Viszla," Padme mused. "That's right, I remember Satine telling me something about a dressmaker from Keldabe."

Soniee looked at her, interested but Padme just shook her head. "Something I need to check on later, nothing for you to worry about."

Soniee shrugged and went back to looking through the crates. She found a white flower and twirled it between her fingers. Then seemingly out of nowhere a thought came to her. "I wonder where Ahsoka is now, if she found what she was looking for."

Padme sighed. "I don't know. I hope she did. Oh but that does remind me of something I was going to tell you. If he isn't called in for an emergency, Commander Fox wanted to escort you to the party tonight."

"I didn't know he was invited. I thought it was only for senators."

"Well he's not. He wants to make sure you get there and back safely but he might stick around nearby, I think he heard or assumes that Lux has been invited."

"Gah," Soniee rolled her eyes. "Why are boys so _di'kutla_? And anyway it's not fair. Fox should be able to come if he wants to."

Padme spoke softly and a little sadly, "Some people think clones shouldn't mix with the rest of society."

"Well that's just _osik_! Fox is an individual. He's got thoughts and feelings and he's just a person like everybody else. I didn't even think of him being a clone when I met him."

"Still that is what he is, a created being who had his growth accelerated to be sent out to fight and who will have a shorter life expectancy because of it even if he does survive the fighting."

It made Soniee want to cry. "It's not fair," she said again. "It's even more reason that he should have something good in his life. Well, it is my party, maybe I'll just invite him."

Padme smiled. "Going to start lobbying for clone rights in the senate now?"

"I just might!"

* * *

if you've read Duchess Diaries you might have an idea what Padme is thinking about when she remembers the Keldabe seamstress ;) don't want to get Soniee's hopes up though.


	30. it's my party

the party she's been dreading is here and she's finally pushed to the point of dealing with her passion. It's not going to be pretty.

* * *

"You look..." Commander Fox was speechless when Soniee followed Padme out of her apartment door wearing the dress that was now perfectly fitted to her figure.

"'Mesh'la', would probably be the word you're looking for." Padme smiled. "It's Mando'a for 'beautiful'."

"Mesh'la!" Fox repeated.

"Vor'e, Al'verde," Soniee replied softly, blushing. If her hair weren't done up to perfection she would have liked to pull on her helmet and hide. She was already embarrassed by his scrutiny of her and now she was expected to enter a situation where she would be the center of attention.

He offered her his arm to guide her to the transport like a perfect gentleman. She wondered if all the clones were taught that on Kamino but then bit her lip and looked away from him. She didn't want to think of him that way.

She took his arm. "Vor'e," she said again almost too softly for him to hear.

"It's still raining but there's an awning and it's a closed transport," he rambled.

"Thank you," she managed this time in Basic. She had been fully prepared to ask him to attend the party but now she couldn't get the words out.

"Has there been any news about Ahsoka, Commander?" Padme asked once the three of them were settled in the transport and the pilot had taken off on the short trip from the Senate apartment complex toward 500 Republica.

"She was seen on the lower levels, Senator." He answered her. "General Skywalker and General Plo Koon have each taken a detachment of troops to search for her." He turned to Soniee to reassure her, "Just to stun her and bring her in for questioning."

Soniee nodded, still too nervous for speech.

All too soon they had arrived on the penthouse landing pad and Soniee's heart was hammering harder than ever. Padme exited the transport but just as Soniee was ready to step out Fox caught her hand. "I'll be right here with the transport if you need anything."

It was the moment for her to ask him to come with her. "It's a party. I'm sure I'll be fine?" It was phrased as a question born of her nerves.

He squeezed her hand and she could hear the smile in his voice behind his helmet. "Go on, they're waiting for you."

She nodded and turned to follow Padme but she stopped again at the door to the Chancellor's apartment. "I should have asked him..."

"He would feel even more awkward in there than you do right now." Padme said as she activated the door.

"I know but..." and then she was surrounded by well wishers and had no more chance to think about Fox.

She was introduced to Mon Mothma of Chandrilla who she had briefly said hello to after the Jedi funeral, and there was Bail Organa of Alderaan, and Riyo Chuchi of Pantora, and Lux and a few others. These were the younger Senators and, Soniee noticed, all human or near human.

Chancellor Palpatine welcomed her warmly and pressed a glass of Alderaanian wine into her hand. She sipped at it slowly to be polite. She really had no idea how the alcohol would affect her. She'd never had the opportunity to do much drinking but it did taste nice.

After a while she noticed that the attention of most of the guests had shifted away from her. She was glad in a way but not for the reason. The news about Ahsoka had gotten around and everyone seemed to know her or have worked with her. Though no one would say as much in front of the Chancellor and they all kept up smiles and small talk when he passed by their circles of conversation, Soniee could almost taste the tension in the room.

When she didn't think she could take anymore, she glanced around the room but no one was looking her direction. She located an exit onto a balcony and decided to make a break for it. As she left and saw Lux standing next to Palpatine. The Chancellor was saying something to him but Lux just looked vacant and sad.

There was that feeling again, the one she had hoped was gone for good, and the voice along with it, _No peace, only passion. Through passion I gain strength._

Soniee shivered as she stepped out into open air. The rain had stopped but she could still see the lightning rippling through the clouds in the distance as the storm moved on. She looked at her hands and sat on a bench without checking to see if it might be wet. It was mercifully dry. Some droid must have come and wiped down the outdoor furniture just in case someone needed an escape, she thought vaguely and was glad not to have messed up the duchess's, well her, dress.

"Soniee."

She was unsure for a moment whether or not the voice was in her head. She looked up toward the doorway and saw the humanoid shape blocking the light from the party inside. He was in shadow but his eyes still seemed to glow unnaturally. Must have been a reflection from the city beyond the low balcony wall.

"Lux." It was him but... _Comfort him through passion_. She tried to shake the voice away but it was harder now, it was louder than ever before. "Do you want to talk about Ahsoka?" she attempted to steer the conversation away from the overwhelming desire that was boiling up inside her, but it wasn't going to be that easy.

He didn't answer he only made his way swiftly to sit beside her and cupped her cheek with his hand. "You miss him don't you?"

She couldn't help herself she nuzzled against his hand and brushed her lips across his palm. She would never have been so bold had it not been for that voice urging her on.

"We can, we should comfort each other," he whispered.

Soniee gripped one of the iron bars that formed the back of the bench with both her hands to keep herself from pulling him closer. She couldn't understand why he was suddenly so willing to go along with the voice but she didn't question it. Maybe she should have.

"They all expect it, you and me." His other hand found the slit at the front of her skirt and slipped underneath it to rest on her bare knee.

"We can't," she gasped and her eyelids fluttered shut. _There is no peace only passion_.

"You think they don't have their lovers here on the planet?"

Soniee remembered the kiss she had witnessed between Padme and the Jedi Knight.

"What happens on Coruscant stays on Coruscant." His hand dropped between her knees and eased slowly a centimeter at a time up her inner thigh.

She grasped the bar tighter and with the heat and electricity gathering in her hands it felt as though the metal softened and bent slightly. _Through passion I gain strength_. "Lux, we barely know each other."

Her head dropped back exposing her neck to him and he ghosted a line of kisses from just below her ear to her collar bone. "We should get to know each other better." He chuckled and it was his voice but ... it wasn't. It was the laugh that had been echoing inside her head.

"Lux, this isn't you." She realized that she was rooted to the spot, as surely as if beskar straps were binding her to the bench. She could move but whatever this thing was it wasn't going to let go of her until this was resolved.

And there was that laugh again, using Lux's voice but somehow not him. "You have a choice." He kissed her throat again, Lux's lips. "Give in to passion and draw from it strength and power or..." His hands, Lux's hands, were poised, one between her legs the other warm through the fabric over her breast. "Use your power to push me away."

She imagined him writhing while the energy coursed from her fingers, engulfing him. Then she saw him suspended in the air, clawing at his own throat while her invisible hands throttled him. And then a vision of the simple act of pushing him, sending him over the wall and tumbling down to the ground far, far below.

"So what will it be, kriff me or kill me?"

For one horrible moment, Soniee wondered if this was the real Lux, if he had always had this darkness inside of him and he'd been the one tempting her all along. But, no. The darkness had been there long before she met him and the real Lux was still in there somewhere. It might be his hands and his lips but this was not his will. If she gave in she would be betraying him as much as she would be betraying Korkie, using him to increase her own power.

But the alternative... She couldn't hurt him much less kill him. She looked into his eyes hoping to see Lux looking back at her. The eyes were glowing yellow. She'd seen that somewhere before, but she couldn't place it.

She made her decision. "I'm sorry, Lux. Forgive me." With effort she took her hands away from the bar she'd been clutching and gently placed them on either side of Lux's face. Then she closed her eyes and kissed him.

He or whatever it was that was controlling him responded, deepening the kiss.

It was exactly as the voice had promised, an intoxicating serge of power flowed through her. The voice laughed in triumph but there was something else, perfect clarity of her surroundings, laid out like the schematics of a data pad or a ship's engine in her mind. And with that knowledge she was in control of the situation again.

A detail about the balcony had escaped her before, a plant stand, just a narrow pedestal with a large vase perched on the top of it. If she could push him directly at it with the precise amount of force it would stop him from going over the balcony railing. She could push him away but with minimal damage. She couldn't have seen it before, but now it seemed obvious.

One more kiss on the cheek, "I'm sorry about this too, Lux, but trust me." She closed her eyes and breathed out a long breath to steady herself. Then she pushed him with the Force.

He flew exactly where she had anticipated that he would. He struck the pedestal and sat stunned at the base of it. He looked up at her confused but mostly unhurt. "Soniee?"

She breathed a sigh of relief, still trembling with the power and her own success at outwitting the voice. If only she had considered the vase in her calculations. It rocked and looked as if it would go tumbling over the balcony railing and then it rocked forward again, teetered precariously, and came down on top of Lux's head with a crash.

Soniee sat, stunned, but the idea of curious senators coming to check on the noise got her moving. The adrenaline was still pumping through her but there was nothing she could do but collapse next to Lux's unmoving form, and try to see if he was okay.

Senator Organa was the first to arrive on the scene, "What happened here?"

"He kissed me and I pushed him away." The garbled rendition of the truth tumbled from her as she reached out for Lux's wrist to check for his pulse.

Then they were surrounded by party-goers and her story circulated. A droid was called for with a stretcher to take him to the med center. Lux was breathing but seeing him like that reminded her of Korkie after her last brush with her dark side. Maybe it was just unsafe for her to get too close to people.

Padme came and put an arm around her while they watched Lux being carried away. "You said, he kissed you and that you had to push him away?" she asked. "That doesn't sound like Lux."

"It wasn't," Soniee answered. She looked around at the curious faces and found Palpatine staring at her. His expression was grudgingly impressed. That's when she saw it, that yellow glow in his eyes.

She swallowed. "I'd like to leave now."

And then Commander Fox was pushing past the others and holding out his hand to her. "Excuse me. Miss Ordo wants to leave." She gave him her hand and he whisked her away.

* * *

okay i hate this chapter. it was hard to write. important to the story but i'm glad it's over and i can move on. next one will be more fun.


	31. LEP-1K0

How about a breath of fresh air after that last chapter? I meant this one to be more about Fox but the bunny droid kind of took over. There was a time when Satine thought of 1K0 as just about her only friend (see The Duchess Diaries) Soniee is just learning what a great ally she can be.

* * *

When they reached the landing pad it had just started to rain again. Soniee kicked off her heals and lifted the hem of her dress out of the gathering puddles. Then she looked up, feeling the drops cool on her face.

"Did he hurt you?" Fox asked softly.

She frowned but didn't look at him. "He's the one who's on the way to the med center." She could just see the flashing lights of the ambulance out of the corner of her eye speeding away through the skyways.

"They said he tried to..."

"It's over." She interrupted him. "I-I don't want to talk about it."

The helmet nodded, he would respect her wishes but he was still worried about her. "Are you okay, then?"

"Not exactly," She tried to put a name to her emotion. "I'm angry." Angry at herself for not being strong enough to put a stop to it sooner. Angry at Palpatine? Was it really him? She still couldn't quite believe that it was that sweet old ba'buir who had been messing with her all this time, that he could get into her mind, that he could influence her deepest desires. It wasn't possible. "I just want to shoot something."

"Shoot something? Like with a blaster?" Fox asked amazed.

"What? I am a Mandalorian."

He must have been smiling under that helmet. "A Mandalorian wearing a Mesh'la evening gown standing here getting soaked in the rain."

She smiled at him, so thankful at that moment for his reassuring presence. "What would you suggest, al'verde?"

"Well there's a firing range at the base."

She brightened.

"But it's not for civvies, only troopers and officers."

She frowned.

"You don't happen to still have that temple get-up you had on when I met you?"

She knew exactly what he meant, the outfit she had borrowed from Barris, that she had worn when he had mistaken her for a Padawan, a commander. "It's at Padme's!"

"Then we have a stop to make."

* * *

The were met at the door of Padme's apartment by 1K0. "Is the party over so soon?" The droid went into full panic mode the moment she saw the dress, arms flailing "What have you done?"

For the first time Soniee really looked at the state of the gown. She was soaked from the rain and she hadn't even noticed it when it happened but the slit down the front of the skirt had been ripped several centimeters higher. She blushed. "It was raining."

1K0 glared at Fox. "Is this your doing?"

"I'll just wait out here." He stepped back outside the door and let it slide shut in front of him.

"Never liked clones..." the droid muttered, took Soniee's hand and led her toward the bedroom to change. "A nice dry pair of pajamas and bed for you, Miss Ordo."

"Actually 1K0, I'm not staying. Just came back to change. Fox is taking me out to blow off some steam." She wasn't sure why she was telling the droid this and when she said it, it sounded rather like a date. She hoped Fox didn't think of it like that.

"Well come along. We'll have to see what we have to fit the occasion."

It wasn't as easy to peal the dress off now that it was soaking wet and Soniee was actually glad she had 1K0's help in doing so. Then while the droid was fussing over the tear and the fabric, Soniee grabbed her Padawan costume and slipped into the 'fresher. She carefully removed the gold comb from her hair and put all of it but a small lock just behind her ear, into a messy bun. Then she braided the last little bit and let it hang down over her shoulder. There! The perfect Jedi apprentice. The clothes had been washed and folded presumably to be returned to the temple since she had only borrowed them. She smiled at how comfortable they were again now as she put on the leggings and tunic.

When she stepped out 1K0 was there waiting for her with a new garment draped over her metal arms. "I hope you were not intending to impress your date with that ensemble."

"No, that wasn't my intention." Soniee answered patiently. "It's not a date."

The droid made a sound that was remarkably like a sigh. "You have no idea how good it is for me to hear you say that, Miss Ordo. If young master Kryze ever found out about it he would be ever so jealous."

Soniee's eyes widened. "You... know about Korkie and me?"

"The Duchess spoke of her wish that I should make the alterations to her wedding gown should you ever need it."

"She..." Soniee knew she would cry if she really considered that. She didn't have time right now but she had to ask. "She had a wedding dress?"

"It was created for her wedding to Pre Viszla that never occurred, a design by his mother."

"The Viszla designer in Keldabe..." Soniee muttered.

"Well if you don't need this for your date. I shall just put it away." 1K0 turned with the garment she was holding.

"Wait." Soniee stopped her. "Can I at least see it?"

1K0 must have been busy because although the fabric looked sort of familiar the design was nothing like what Satine would have ever worn. The short skirt, leggings, and top were modest but still young looking and fun, perfect for a night out on the town.

"Did you alter these for me just this evening?" Soniee asked.

"Now that I have your measurements it will be quite easy to transform the wardrobe into something that better suits my new mistress's needs."

"I appreciate it." Soniee told her sincerely. "Just don't make over everything. Some of them should be left as they were when she wore them."

"I quite agree, Miss Ordo."

"And please, call me Soniee."

She pulled on a pair of comfortable boots and grabbed her helmet and then on a sudden inspiration she grabbed the outfit that 1K0 had selected for her 'date' and shoved it inside the helmet just in case.

She opened the door and smiled at Fox who was waiting for her now with his helmet off. Then quickly she turned back to the droid. "Thanks, 1K0."

"You are welcome, Mistress Soniee."

She closed the door behind her and sighed. "Well I'm all ready," she told Fox holding out her arms to show him her costume.

He smiled back at her a little sadly and then said, "They caught Ahsoka. She was at an old munitions factory where they made nanodroids."


	32. flirting with Fox

If it weren't for how much i love Korkie i could totally ship these two. this one's dedicated to those guys at the guitar store who used to pull down $3000 guitars for me to try when i was 17 because they liked to hear the way i could fingerpick. the troopers are a pretty impressed with Fox's Mando girl and he's a little jealous.

* * *

The guards at the entrance to the base didn't give her more than a glance. It probably helped that she was actually force sensitive and was projecting an aura of 'I'm a Jedi. I belong here.' It wasn't until they got to the firing range that she started to get some looks from the troopers.

Then she distinctly heard one of them say, as he elbowed his brother, "That's no Padawan. That's Fox's Mando girl."

"He managed to get her on the base?" asked another.

"I'm just amazed she actually exists," laughed a third.

"Fox," Soniee stopped him walking with a hand on his arm and confronted him. "You didn't by chance tell them that you took me out to Dex's a few nights ago?"

Helmetless but looking like he wished he still had the bucket firmly in place, he avoided looking her in the eye. "Might've mentioned it."

"Well, I'll try not to embarrass you." She grinned evilly, "much." Then she strode out ahead of him toward the other clones making him hurry to catch up with her.

"Soniee," he called but she didn't look back.

The Mando girl adopted her very best Concord Dawn accent, the one she'd been taught to drop when speaking Basic before a audience in her oration classes. She rolled all her 'R's almost like a purr and twirled her fake Padawan braid around her finger. " _Ner al'verde_ said I might be able to get in a little weapons practice while I'm on _Coruscanta_. If it's alright with _kaysh vode_ , eh, his brothers."

They all jumped up at once to help her each offering his own blaster for her use.

Fox shoved is way through the crowd toward her. "Come on, Soniee. I'll show you my DCs."

She gave the others a wave and followed him with a grin. That got a few whistles.

She was giggling when he opened the door to a booth and ushered her in.

He just shook his head, "I had no idea you could be such a vixen."

"Fitting though. Just adding to your legend. Now, you gonna show me those DCs or not?"

He removed one of his weapons from it's holster with a grin. "I'm still not sure I believe you can handle one of these. Weren't you Academy cadets all pacifists like your duchess?"

"I wasn't always at the academy," she took the DC-15 and looked it over with the same interest and care that she had taken with his helmet in the diner. "My ba'buir oversaw my early education before I ever set foot in Sundari. He was a marksman." She was impressed with the weapon but she didn't show it. Instead she shrugged, "Well it's not a Westar but I suppose it will do." She turned toward the target let out a slow breath, aimed, and fired.

The shot actually went a little low of where she was aiming, somewhere around the chin of the humanoid figure when she'd been aiming for right between the eyes, but it still earned her a cheer from the troopers who were avidly watching.

"It's cheating if you use the Force." Fox whispered close to her ear.

She jumped in surprise and said a little louder than she intended. "You accuse me of cheating while I'm standing here holding your DC?"

That got a few hoots and whistles and she blushed when she realized how her words had sounded.

Fox raised an eyebrow and grinned at her. "I suppose it was a pretty good shot for a girl," he teased.

She took the challenge. "Ba'buir used to say, ' _Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya._ '" She turned back toward the target and "Pew, Pew, Pew, Pew, Pew!" fired five shots in quick succession, this time taking into account the weapon's tendency to fire a hair low. Then she pushed the button to bring the target closer for viewing the exact hits.

There were groans this time from her audience when they saw the five blast points that circled the figure's crotch. "Train your sons to be strong but your daughters to be stronger."

Fox nodded, clearly impressed.

Soniee smiled at the unspoken adulation.

"Watch out for that one, Mate." One of the troopers called.

"Yeah, sure am glad the Mandos are still neutral. Don't even want to think about the Seppies getting her on their side."

She laughed and blushed again.

"Don't have to tell me." Fox called back to them still grinning at her. "Last bloke who tried to kiss her got sent to the med center."

He hadn't meant to make her sad, but at the reminder of Lux her smile faded.

She held out the blaster to return it to him and he took it but he laid it aside, keeping a hold of her hand. "I'm sorry, Soniee." He said softly. "Sorry I said it, sorry for whatever it was that happened to you. You're safe here, you know? I won't let anything happen to you."

She smiled at the sweetness of his words, knowing he meant them and truly feeling safe. "I think I already proved that I'm capable of taking care of myself." She gestured back toward the target.

"Well, but wouldn't it be better if the need for that never arises?" he asked.

"Let's hope not. I've never been comfortable shooting at organic life forms." She shivered.

He frowned as if he were trying to remember something. "It's something to do with the Force, isn't it?"

She looked at him, amazed at his intuition.

"You said before that sometimes you wished you could just shut it off."

"Yeah, I do." She admitted.

"And what happened at the Chancellor's was..." His jaw tightened and she knew what was frustrating him. The Force was one thing he couldn't protect her from.

She nodded.

"They're awful quiet in there." One of the troopers called.

"You wanna risk going in there and interrupting something?" another asked.

"The way she shoots? Sorry, I value my shebs too much for that."

Soniee smiled and blushed.

Fox winked at her. "You wanna try the rifle?"

"Yeah, show me what you got."

When it was clear to the other troopers that weapons testing was the only thing going on in Fox and Soniee's booth they all came around offering more choices for her to try out. Apart from the more traditional blasters she got to try a Wookie Bowcaster and a Lasat Bo-rifle. She was still most at home with the Mandalorian made Westars, though.

Fox was right there 'protecting' her the whole time. He never let the other clones get too close to her but if her stance or form when she was holding a new weapon was ever off, he was quick to correct her. He seemed especially keen on positioning her shoulders or hips to face the correct angle to the target or placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her to take a small step forward. She allowed it. It was comfortable being around him, like when Amis used to put his arm around her and she'd lay her head on his shoulder, like having an _ori'vod_ watching out for her.

She was laughing at something one of the clones said and satisfied with the shot she had just made when she finally leaned back against Fox and he put his arms around her. "I hope this is okay," he whispered. "I don't think I've ever felt anything so nice as having you in my arms."

So, maybe not so much like a big brother, but she didn't push him away. "I don't think I had near enough to drink at that party." she said with a broken laugh.

"Would you like to go to a club, or maybe something quieter?" he asked.

Another nervous laugh. "I might be a little under dressed for either."

He didn't say it aloud but it was clear what he was thinking as he rubbed the hem of her tunic between his fingers, _I was thinking a little overdressed_.

And yet, she didn't feel the darkness from him like she had felt when Lux was coming on to her. Fox just seemed to honestly like her and want to spend more time with her. Still, it was Korkie she loved. She spun out of his arms. "Maybe a club. Do you dance, _al'verde_?"

"If the right partner is available." He nodded gazing at her.

She took a deep breath. "Maybe we could invite your brothers?"

She could tell he was a little disappointed by the suggestion but he smiled tightly. "Sure, if that's what you want, Miss Ordo."

" _Ner al'verde_ , are we no longer on a first name basis? If so I think I prefer Mando-girl."

He broke into a grin. "My Mando girl." The emphasis on his possession was unmistakable. He stepped toward her as if he wanted to embrace her again but she took hold of both his hands before his arms could go around her.

"Fox, I..."

Then it seemed to dawn on him or something did because he couldn't possibly know her true reason. "Oh Soniee, I'm sorry. After what you've just been through and here I am... Osik, I'm an idiot. Forgive me, will you?"

"Of course," She smiled at him still holding both his hands. "I really do appreciate you looking out for me. I - I feel safe with you. I just..."

"Hey, I get it." He smiled and he didn't stop looking her in the eyes as he yelled back over his shoulder. "We're headed to 79's. Anybody want to join us?"


	33. clubbing with clones

this is the chapter where we all say 'Soniee, you're drunk, go home!' let the flirting continue!

* * *

Soniee stepped out of the ladies' 'fresher, with the padawan costume now stuffed into the helmet she carried in her right hand. Her left hand smoothed down the new top and skirt that 1K0 had altered for her. They were a perfect fit. She was definitely going to have to do something nice for the droid. And although she was plenty covered up, the glances that she was getting from some of the bar's patrons made her aware that she looked pretty good in the new outfit. As she looked around however she didn't see the one person who's opinion mattered to her at the moment.

Plenty of them looked similar to him, some might even say identical, with a little variation on hair cut or color, tattoos, differently painted armor, or fatigues. She knew without even looking, though, that none of them was Fox. Funny that she had spent so little time with him and already his force signature felt so familiar.

It was loud in the bar, exactly the kind of loud she needed right now. The music and the voices and the chink of glasses and bottles numbed her mind to the thoughts and feelings. Still she wished she could find him or that he would find her.

She crossed to the bar and climbed up onto a stool. From there she hoped that she could see over the top of some of the heads and she supposed she could go ahead and get a drink. That was why she was here, right? She set her helmet on the counter and it made a dull clunk.

It drew the attention of the bartender who made his way to her with a low whistle, "Kandosii buy'ce!"

"Gar jorhaa'ir Mando'a?" she asked happily.

He was a clone like the others but his bald head was almost completely covered in tattoos. "Elek, I speak a lot of things. What'll you have?"

"I really don't know." Soniee shrugged helplessly.

"Hmm." He put a small glass on the bar in front of her and then reached back for a bottle and filled the glass almost to the brim. "We'll start you off with this." He didn't seem at all concerned with her age. But then she supposed that if the clones' growth were accelerated most of his customers might be younger than she was. He might even be.

She looked uncertainly at the gold colored liquid in the glass and then hesitantly lifted it and took a small sip. She made a face and the bartender laughed but not unkindly.

"No, no." He said and he mimed drinking from an invisible cup. "You got to swallow the whole thing in one go."

"'Lek?" _yeah?_ she asked and he nodded with a grin. Soniee shrugged, "K'oyacyi!" and then downed the contents of the glass. It burned going down her throat but then she immediately began to feel a warm, pleasant tingling in all her joints. "Kan-" she coughed once as she set down the glass. "Kandosii!"

"Soniee?"

She turned on the barstool at the sound of her name.

Fox looked her up and down taking in the new outfit and her cheeks flushed with the alcohol. "Almost didn't recognize my Mando-girl," he grinned and took the stool next to her.

"Ner al'verde, mar'e!" She glanced at the bartender knowing that he understood her even if Fox didn't. He winked.

They had gathered a bit of an audience but Fox didn't seem to care. "Talk Mando'a to me, baby."

He was distracted a moment by someone calling his name and Soniee said to the barkeep, "Ori'pakod!" _Too easy!_

"Oya!" he grinned.

When Fox turned back to her she gave him what he asked for, "Ori'buyce, kih'kovid. _" All helmet, no head_. _"_ Jate verd ori'shya beskar'gam _."Good thing a warrior is more than his armor._ She ran a finger down the center of his chest plate as she said it and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

The bartender laughed aloud.

Fox started to look a little concerned but then Soniee caressed his face as she crooned, "Gar mirsh solus." _Your brain cells are lonely_ . Then she ran her fingers through his short hair "Mir'osik." _Dung for brains_.

"Hey!" he growled mock angrily and grabbed her hand. "I know that word." but he was smiling knowing that she was teasing him.

Soniee giggled.

"One sure way to get her to shut up!" Someone yelled.

She was halfway through telling him _Don't mess with Mandolorians_ ! " Ke nu'jurkadir sha Mando _-"_ When he took the advice and kissed her. The crowd cheered.

Soniee stiffened for a moment in shock but then as if she had drunk another shot of whatever it was that was in that glass a warm feeling rushed through her and she melted into the kiss.

When they broke apart she was breathless. "Dance... we should." She put a hand to her forehead and laughed. "Now I sound like Master Yoda."

"Come on." Fox grinned and led her to the dance floor.

The music wasn't really like anything she had ever danced to before and when she looked at the other couples they seemed to be mostly grinding against one another. She blushed as Fox took her in his arms and they began to sway, not knowing how far she could or wanted to let this go.

"You're really going to have to teach me some Mando'a so I don't make a fool of myself again," he said close to her ear so she could hear him over the music.

"Well you seem to know _osik_ already." She smirked at him.

"I also know _mesh'la._ " He twirled her away from him and then back into his arms.

"Thank you." She smiled, taking it as the complement she knew it to be.

"And I know..." his hand slid down her back and grabbed her ass, " _shebs_."

She gave a little jump and a squeak and he chuckled.

"That's... correct." she told him.

Then he put his hands on her hips and thrust his own against her. "And... _krif_..."

She gasped. "That is the basic idea." she tried to breathe normally. "Do you know what it is that I call you?"

"Ner al'verde?" he remembered.

"Yeah."

He frowned, thinking while he continued to sway with her to the music. " _Ner_ is 'my' like, _ner vod_ , my brother."

She knew he liked the fact that she called him 'my' anything. "That's right."

"And _al'verde_?" he asked.

She smiled. "Commander."

He laughed, having had no idea it was so obvious. "Well at least we've got the chain of command down, right?"

"Fox?" She sobered a little and she could tell he was listening intently to what she would say next. "You know I would never dream of ordering you to do anything but... if I asked you to slow down or... or to stop..."

He let go of her so suddenly that she almost lost her balance and held up his hands as if in surrender. "I would never force you to do anything, Soniee."

And she knew it was true. He would do anything to protect her and he wouldn't ask for anything in return. She was just moving back to take up where they left off in the dance when another arm reached out and twirled her around.

"Cutting in!" said one of Fox's brothers. It was one of the troopers from the firing range she was sure, maybe the one who had let her borrow the bowcaster. She looked back at Fox and shrugged helplessly as she was led away.

And after that it was a whorl of dancing and drinks and more drinks and dancing. She thought she might have danced with one of the Twi-lek girls once and she had the vague recollection of trying on pieces of someone's armor, but she always seemed to end up back in Fox's arms. It was during one of these times when she looked up into his eyes and growled lustily, "Commander Fox, take me to bed or lose me forever." She giggled. "Heard that in a holo, always wanted to say it."

He gazed at her making her heart beat faster. "Yes, but do you mean it?"

"I - I don't know. Do I?"

* * *

Soniee and Lagos watched 'Top Gun' like a thousand times. haha  
aaaaand you're gonna have to wait to find out what happens *maniacal laugh*


	34. meanwhile in Mandalore 1

Leaving Soniee where she is for a bit i'm going to write a couple chapters about what's been going on with Korkie all this time. i'll make a note at the beginning of each section what chapter these coordinate with. I'm drawing a lot from the Duchess Diaries also as Korkie learns some more about his parents.

* * *

 **Suspicion:**

"Wait! Where are you going? We need to leave! Now!" Bo-Katan called after him, down the hallway.

"I need to find it!" Korkie yelled back at her. "Can't leave without it!"

"You haven't taken a step anywhere near her room since she left and now when they're about to bomb the Academy down around our ears, NOW is when you have to find this thing, whatever it is?"

Korkie wasn't even exactly sure what he was looking for. He just knew that he had to have something that belonged to her. He couldn't leave this building until he had something of Soniee's in his hands.

Bo was right he hadn't wanted to enter this room since Soniee had left. They had come out of this room together after their one and only night as lovers and he had promised himself that he wouldn't enter it again unless she was with him. But now, since Almec had given the order to smoke out the resistance he had to break that promise. He had to have... That!

Korkie picked up the holonotebook and hugged it to his chest. It was the same notebook she had lost the first time the four of them had spied on Almec and she'd gotten it back after Ahsoka helped them put him where he belonged. It was the same notebook that the two of them had used to research his mom's past and saw the still of her when she was pregnant. And if Korkie knew anything about Soniee and the way she saved data and kept her devices networked together, he was sure that there would be a copy of the play on this notebook too. He could see his mother again, hear her voice. Yes, this notebook was exactly what he was searching for, even if he hadn't known it.

He could leave the Academy now. He was ready to go. That is until he saw the blinking light on the comm system. Someone had sent a comm to this room? There had been no record of it in the main comm system in the administrative office. There was only one person Korkie knew who could hack into the comm system of a cadets dorm room. That person was Soniee Ordo.

Krif! Why hadn't he thought of that? He had been so worried about her. He remembered how he used to tease her about being worried to drop out of hyperspace, that she would drop out into a firefight like her birth mother did. What were the odds of something like that happening? But in a galaxy at war where no system was immune to the fighting even peaceful Mandalore, he had begun to share her fear. As soon as Bo-Katan had told him that Soniee was piloting that Kom'rk to the core he had pictured that very event. And then when they got the word, started seeing the holos of the Jedi Temple, smoke pouring from the hanger, he had started worrying that she had made it, that Soniee was there when the bombs when off.

He knew Bo was coming and now that he had got what he had come for, that they needed to leave but he needed to see this holo. Korkie activated the comm and there she was, still in her coveralls with grease streaked across her nose. She looked like she might have been crying not long before or if she might start again.

"Korkie," she began. "You don't know how badly I wish I could be with you right now. Or I don't know maybe you do. I wanted to be with you when you learned about your mother... It breaks my heart. Kenobi too, though he hides it well. He's an incredible man. His humor and his compassion remind me so much of you. He was teaching me how to meditate on the way here."

She was finally getting her Jedi training, after years of struggling with her powers finally his own father was helping her.

"And that's what I commed to tell you. We've made it safely here to Coruscant. We're going to go before the Council and ask them for help. That's right I said 'we'. He says I have to address them, that I'm better qualified to explain everything that's been going on than he is. I'm nervous. I wish you..."

He didn't hear the rest Bo came in then and dragged him out. "We are leaving now!"

"She was there!" He screamed. "She was at the temple!" He was nearly blind with tears while his aunt shunted him down the hallway. "Fierfek, Auntie Bo, Soniee was at the temple when it was bombed!"

"You don't know that." Bo-Katan tried to reassure him but she couldn't trust him to fly on his own with a jet pack in this condition. She mounted the swoop and told him to get on behind her.

"It doesn't matter." Korkie cried. "If she's dead I might as well go down with the Academy."

"Korkie Kryze-Kenobi, You get on this bike! You don't know when that holo was taken! You have no idea if she was anywhere near that temple or anywhere near the hanger! She could be on her way back here to Mandalore right now! And what am I supposed to say to her when she finds out you stayed behind and allowed yourself to be blown to haran!"

"I'm sorry." He mounted the bike behind her, clutching the notebook. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Of course you're right."

* * *

 **Never Alone:**

They got out just in time and Korkie watched, numb while the place he'd called home, the place they had called home was destroyed. Never again would she walk to class backward while they talked about exams. Never again would they steal food from the kitchens in the middle of the night. Never again would he fall asleep holding her in that narrow bunk.

And then, he'd been so focused on Soniee that he hadn't even thought of the other girl. "Auntie Bo, Lagos, got out okay, didn't she?"

"She's already at the safe house. That's where we're going now." Bo seemed glad that he was no longer yelling but she was still strung tight.

"Is it in Sundari?" he asked as they made a wide arch around the palace.

"No, it's... well you've been there before but I don't think you would remember."

Korkie squinted. There was an unfamiliar craft rising off of the palace landing pad. It was a Lambda-class shuttle if he wasn't mistaken. He'd never seen one of those land at the palace. Must have been an off worlder, but who? "So if not Sundari, then, Kalevala? Are we leaving Mandalore for somewhere else in the system?" Kalevala was the home of his clan but he hadn't been there since he was a young boy, not since his aunt, or his mother rather, had come to claim him.

"No, not Kalevala either. We'll be staying on the planet..." she started explaining but he lost track of her words.

Korkie began to feel a strange sensation. It was a very gentle touch, a presence but from very far away. It was... "Soniee! She's alive!"

"What are you talking about?" Bo looked back over her shoulder as they left the dome of Sundari and a wave of heat hit them. They began to fly out over the empty desert surface of the planet toward one of the cube cities in the distance.

"I- I don't know. I can't explain it. She must be reaching out with the force, but it's her. I know it's Soniee. She's alive!" he said again. And then just as suddenly as he had felt her touch it was gone. Something dark had come between them and the brief connection had been severed. "It - It's gone now. But I swear, Auntie Bo. I felt her. You were right. She's not dead. Wherever she is she's alive and she was able to reach out to me."

"Well, there now. Aren't you glad I didn't let you stay and die in the Academy?"

"Yeah. Yeah I am."


	35. meanwhile on Mandalore 2

another little trip into Korkie's mind, with the return of one of my favorite OCs from the Duchess Diaries. This one takes place during the chapter "a mentor".

* * *

The safe house turned out to be the house where he was born and it didn't feel terribly safe. Korkie had known that his mother had a relationship with Pre Viszla but it had been a shock to learn that Viszla's mother was the first person to hold him even before she handed him over to his mother. The way the old woman looked at him now, like since she had lost her son she wanted to start over with him, it gave him the creeps.

He thought he might have finally found a place to be alone and think when Gran Viszla finally cornered him. "There you are, _ad'ika_."

"I'm not a child," he pouted with his arms crossed over his chest.

"No, no. Of course you're not and I'm not as young as I used to be either, so come and sit because I'm tired of trying to chase you down. I want to show you something."

With a sigh of resignation he went to sit beside her. "What is it?"

She activated an old holo and said, "Now watch."

"Who's that supposed to be?" he asked as the image of a beautiful woman materialized. She looked a little like Bo-Katan but had more of regal air about her.

"That's your grandmother. She was my best friend. And would you care to guess who that is sitting on her lap?" There was a toddler scribbling on a sheet of flimsy with a colored pencil.

"I don't know." He shrugged, interested now but not wanting to show it. "My mom?"

"Nope. That's Bo. Keep watching."

The beautiful woman, his grandmother, looked at the holocam and smiled, embarrassed. She waved the cam away and the image fell upon a little girl who couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 but she was tall for her age. She was wearing a long cloak that was several sizes too big for her, and she had an incredibly bossy look on her face.

"That is my mother." Korkie couldn't help but laugh.

Young Satine was shaking her finger at someone not in the image and obviously giving them a piece of her mind. Then instantly she dropped into the character of whatever she was playacting and laid the back of her hand against her forehead in a pretend swoon.

Into the image marched a young boy. He was wearing armor that was much to big and waving a wooden sword. He was obviously doing something wrong because Satine broke character, stomped her foot, and sent him back to do it over again. He turned obediently but rolled his eyes as he walked back out of the holo image.

"And that's your son?"

Gran nodded. "When she could still boss him around and before he started listening to his uncles' _osik_."

Young Satine struck her pose again and young Pre Viszla entered, this time to her satisfaction. They traded a few silent lines of dialogue and then he thrust with his wooden sword. Korkie tensed as he watched but this young version of his mother just took the sword, stuck it under her arm, stumbled a couple of steps, spun around and wilted gracefully to the floor.

Young Pre knelt down to look at her and she opened her eyes smiling, then she hopped up and curtsied toward the holocam. She elbowed Pre and must have told him to bow because he did and then Gran deactivated the holo.

"Always had a flair for the dramatic, your mother." Gran wiped away a tear and Korkie realized that she was mourning them both. "Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la _,_ " _Not gone, merely marching far away,_ she whispered.

Korkie repeated the phrase. He didn't quite know what else to say.

"When your grandparents were killed, I tried to do my best for the girls. I couldn't officially adopt them because your mother had to inherit her title but I tried to be there for them when they needed me. I hope you can see why I would have liked to have her as my daughter-in-law. I knew there was no chance of that after she met your father, that look she'd get in her eyes when she was thinking about him off who knows where in the galaxy. You get that look in your eye too."

Korkie had listened to her speech silently but instead of thinking of his parents his mind had drifted to Soniee. "What? Me?" he asked.

"Yes. You've got someone special out there who you're worried about too, don't you, _ad'ika_?"

He didn't correct her this time for calling him 'child'. "Yes," he admitted. "Soniee. She's amazing! She's beautiful and she can fix anything and she's patient and considerate and I think she's on Coruscant. She flew my father there. And she was at the temple but I don't think she was there when it was bombed. I felt her, Gran. She can use the force and I think she must have reached out to me. We have this sort of connection. So I'm sure she's alive or she was a few hours ago..." He had gotten up and was pacing. He stopped just short of telling the old woman about how he had proposed to Soniee and how he still didn't have an answer. It bothered him more than he could say that the question was left hanging.

"Korkie," Gran broke the silence that he didn't realize had fallen. "I would like to do something for you. And you of course are welcome to say no."

"What is it?" he asked.

"You know that I've worked as a seamstress. I made dresses for your mother and her mother before her, but my passion was, and always will be, forging armor. It is a tradition and a privilege for a _Mando'ad_ to wear his _beskar'gam_ and I would like to assist you in constructing something that you can wear with pride into the battles that are surely coming. I know your mother was a pacifist and your father a Jedi and you can say no if you don't feel comfortable with the idea..."

"Gran, yes!" Korkie interrupted her excited at the prospect. "My father is a general now. He would understand. And I'm sure you're right that the war will be coming here to Mandalore. I want to wear the armor and stand up with my people when the time comes!" He didn't add that he also wanted to prove to Soniee when she returned that he could protect her.

Gran stood. "Well then, we'll get started on it in the morning." She patted Korkie's cheek. "Get some sleep now, _Ad'ik_ _a_."

"I'll try, and thank you."

That night as he slept Korkie had a very interesting dream. It started out with Soniee in the shower. It felt so real and she looked amazing. She was just standing there under the water and he was just thinking how much he wanted to join her there, to hold her and feel her skin against his, when she spoke, "Where are you? I miss you so much. They moved up the time and I think I'm prepared as I can be to speak to the senate but I still wish you were here."

The senate, he wondered vaguely, hadn't she been going to speak to the Jedi Council? Isn't that what she had said in her comm? But he hadn't managed to hear the whole comm before Bo dragged him away and he didn't want to think about that now. He only wanted to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be alright and if she had prepared a speech it would go wonderfully. That anyone who listened to her couldn't help but believe her and be turned to her point of view. But then just as suddenly as his last contact with her had been broken, this window into her consciousness was closed and cold evil seemed to wash over him.

Korkie sat up in bed panting. It was only a dream but it wasn't. She had been there. She had spoken to him. She missed him. But she was in some kind of danger. Someone or something was threatening her.


	36. meanwhile on Mandalore 3

there's a time difference between Sundari, Mandalore and Galactic City, Coruscant so "another long boring debate" takes place in the middle of the night but at least Korkie can see that Soniee is alive and well.

* * *

Korkie knew he'd never get back to sleep but he didn't want to wake the others. He didn't want to worry them, or maybe he didn't want to let them know how worried he was. He wanted the holonotebook he had brought with him from the academy but he had left it in the other room when he was trying to escape Gran. Now Bo and Lagos were sleeping in there and he'd have to wait for it until morning.

Maybe there was another device in this room that he could use to hit the net. He began to search around on shelves and in drawers and then he looked under the bed and saw a box. He pulled it out and opened it and found an old academy uniform, something made of feathers and an old datapad. Kandosii!

Now to search for a holonet feed of the senate. If Soniee was here, she'd know exactly what to look for. Korkie had never given a second thought to the Republic Senate except maybe for the times that his mother had gone before them to plead the case of Mandalore's neutrality, but now if his dream could be believed, Soniee was there asking for the opposite.

Korkie switched on the datapad and began his search. Without intending to he activated an old recording, the sound came up before the video with the loud giggling of two young girls.

"Oh, osik!" he swore quietly trying to turn down the volume before it woke someone.

Too late, Lagos, stumbled into the room yawning, "What are you doing?"

"I found this," He held up the still playing datapad. "I was just trying to turn it back off."

Lagos took it from him and was about to turn it off for him when the video caught up with the audio and there was the image of a very pregnant twi'lek who spoke with Satine's voice.

"Bo, no we can't. No one can know it's me." She giggled again.

Another voice, Bo-Katan's only younger, then said from outside of the image. "The Duchess is on a shuttle on the way to Serreno. No one will ever know. Besides this is your best role ever and it must be recorded."

"Oh fine." Satine grinned and then posed, pushing one false blue lekku over her shoulder and then putting her hands on her large stomach. "No Duchesses here, just a humble servant on the way to find a safe, comfortable place to bear her child."

Lagos stared at the image of the young duchess in disguise. "That's you." She said to Korkie pointing at Satine's rounded stomach. "I don't know if I quite believed it before but... wow!"

Korkie laughed. "Pretty amazing, isn't it? I guess that's how they sneaked her out of the palace so I could... be born."

The duchess in the recording regained her composure. "Now come on we really should be going while everyone is paying attention to my shuttle. Gran would want us to reach her place before dark."

"Alright," said Bo's voice and then the vid ended.

"Where did you find this thing?" Lagos asked holding up the datapad.

Korkie pointed to the box he had found underneath the bed. "These must have been my mother's things."

"They were mine actually," came the contemporary voice of Bo from behind them.

"I'm sorry," Korkie apologized immediately. "I didn't mean to pry. I only meant to... It's going to sound stupid."

"No surprise there," said Lagos and Korkie rolled his eyes at her.

"What's up?" Bo asked.

"I - I had a dream about Soniee. She said she had to speak before the senate."

"Like the Galactic Republic Senate?"

"Yeah." Korkie continued, more determined. "I know she said in that comm that she had to speak before the Jedi council maybe they sent her on to take her case before the senate."

Lagos crossed her arms over her chest, a little miffed at being woken up in the middle of the night. "But you said it was a dream."

"It - it was but ... it was so real." Korkie blushed remembering the first part of the dream. Then he cleared his throat. "I thought maybe there was some kind of holonet channel that would carry the Senate hearings. I thought maybe we could see if she was actually there."

"Worth a try." Bo shrugged. "You don't think it'll wait till morning?"

Korkie frowned. "It seemed like, in the dream, like she might be in danger."

"Alright." Bo conceded and held her hand out for the datapad. "Osik I haven't seen this thing in years." Before she started her search on the net she scrolled through some old stills. There were some drawings of dress designs that looked like gowns that Korkie had seen his mother wear.

"I thought Gran designed mother's things."

"Well a lot of them but I was just learning at the time. Gran did most of the construction but I did these initial drawings. Your mom thought I might want to pursue it as a career but uh... I chose a different direction."

She scrolled through to another still and stopped and smiled. "There you are." She turned the datapad for Korkie and Lagos to see. There frozen in time was the image of young Satine cradling a tiny bundle in her arms, gazing lovingly down at her son.

"Then," Korkie felt as if he might choke up. "Then she didn't send me right away?"

"I think that was probably the happiest month of her life." Bo said softly.

Lagos squeezed his shoulder and he sniffed back the threatening tears. He wanted to look at the picture forever but he also wanted to find out if his dream of Soniee was correct.

"Thank you for showing me."

Bo nodded. "There are more you can look at them later if you wish. But now..." She activated the holonet function and entered in the search for the Galactic Senate.

"Well I don't know what I expected but... look for yourself." Bo-Katan passed the data pad to Korkie and he tried to process what he was looking at. It was the schedule for the topics that were going before the Senators that day and there at the beginning of the list was, 'Representative Soniee Ordo from the Neutral system of Mandalore.'

Lagos whistled, looking at the list over his shoulder. "And she told you about this in a dream?"

He nodded. "That's right." He looked back at Bo. "When is this supposed to happen?"

It was still the dark of the night in Sundari but in Galactic City it might be nearing midday.

"Well, let's see." Bo fiddled with the datapad a little more and brought up a real-time holo of the senate rotunda.

"Is this what's happening there right now?" Lagos asked.

"Yes, I think so." Bo answered.

Korkie just watched, glued to the image. He might at any minute see Soniee again and know that she was okay. There seemed to be nothing much happening at the moment. Beings were talking amongst themselves almost as if they were waiting for something. And then the Chancellor spoke, "And here they are..."

The image moved to a repulsorpod high in the circle of identical pods. And there she was, looking dignified in a simple but elegant blue dress. Korkie was so relieved to see her that nothing else seemed to matter.

"Why's she sitting with the delegation from Onderon?" Lagos asked.

" _K'uur_." Bo-Katan waved at her to be quiet.

The Chancellor was speaking again. "May I introduce Miss Soniee Ordo of the Neutral system of Mandalore. You may have seen on our schedule of events for today that Miss Ordo was prepared to give us a presentation on the need for a Republic Military presence to protect her planet from an insurgency that had arisen in the capitol city of Sundari."

Korkie wasn't really listening. He was thinking about what Lagos had said and he now noticed the text running along the bottom of the image informing the viewer that the youngman standing behind Soniee was the Senator from Onderon, one Mr. Lux Bonteri. He was looking at Soniee also with a slight smirk on his face. Korkie's jaw clenched with jealousy.

"It is my great pleasure to inform you all that the crisis has past and the system of Mandalore shall be allowed to continue in it's neutrality," The Chancelor was saying.

"What a load of osik! Where's he getting that from?" Lagos asked and Bo hushed her again as the Chancellor continued.

"It is a further pleasure that although Miss Ordo's prepared speech will be unnecessary in today's session we may very well have the opportunity to hear from her in the future as she has agreed to act as the Mandalorian Prime Minister's representative in the Senate."

Lagos shook her head. "Soniee would never agree to work with Almec, not after she saw him order a shock collar to be put on Korkie."

Soniee was making a valiant effort to keep her smile in place but anyone who really knew her would see that it was an act.

"I tend to agree." Bo-Katan frowned. She started to deactivate the holofeed but Korkie stopped her.

"I just want to watch a little longer." He said.

Bo shrugged. "I think they're moving on to other things, but if you want, I'm going back to bed. We'll talk about it in the morning."

Bo left but Lagos stayed for another minute. "You gonna be okay?" She asked Korkie.

"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine."

"She's alive and well." Lagos placed a hand on his arm.

"Yeah. She is." He smiled and then gave his full attention back to the holo. He didn't notice Lagos leaving the room.

Soniee wasn't the focus of the Senate proceedings anymore. They had moved on to other things but the holocams still seemed to find her fairly often as they circulated to gage the response of those in attendance. It wasn't nearly often enough for Korkie, but still when he saw her chatting with that Bonteri, jealousy clawed at his insides.


	37. meanwhile on Mandalore 4

memories from the chapters "Lawless" and "the arrival of twilight" but most of this takes place during the chapter "walking backward"  
Korkie finally learns how powerful Soniee really is in the Force and about her struggle with the dark side.

* * *

Korkie didn't shut down the holofeed until the Senate called a recess for their midday meal. He hadn't realized how tired he was both emotionally and physically, so even though the sky outside was just beginning to lighten he started to drift off to sleep. That is until Soniee reached out to him again and her fear was so palpable that he was instantly fully awake.

She seemed to relax somewhat when she touched his presence as if her fear had stemmed from believing him to be dead. Korkie recognized the sensation because it was the same thing he had felt after discovering that she hadn't been killed in the temple bombing. He wondered if perhaps she had just learned of the destruction of the Academy.

'It's okay,' he tried to tell her. 'I'm here, I'm fine, and we'll be together again soon.'

She must have not been able to hear him, though her thoughts were plain to him, _But my home has been destroyed. There is no peace..._

Then there was another voice and it chilled Korkie to the bone, _There is no peace, There is only passion._

Soniee breathed the words, _There is only passion._

Korkie had felt that passion. He remembered kissing her after he had asked her to be his wife. She had seemed electrified in his embrace.

 _Through passion, I gain strength_ , that cold voice led her. _Through strength, I gain power._

Then Korkie felt a serge of hatred from the girl he loved, not directed at him. She blamed Almec and was determined to have vengeance. Her power frightened him. He knew it then. This is what the Jedi called the dark side of the Force. "Soniee!" He tried to warn her. "Don't listen to it!" But he could hear the laughter in the voice as if it knew she couldn't hear him.

 _Through power, I gain victory_ , the voice continued. And Korkie could hear Soniee whisper, _Victory_. She was totally under the spell.

 _Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me_...

Korkie heard one last whisper from Soniee, _I can save him_. And then the connection was broken.

"Soniee, No!" he cried and regretted it almost at once when Lagos came to sit beside him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Just had a dream. I didn't wake anyone else did I?"

"No, I don't think so." She assured him. "But a dream, like the other dream you had where Soniee told you that she as going before the senate and we found out that she actually was?"

"Force, I hope not." Korkie got up and started pacing. "She's angry and she's afraid. She's afraid something's going to happen to me but she's going down a path I can't follow."

"You love her." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Ni kar'tayl kaysh, darasuum." _I know her, always_.

"Then don't give up hope. She's worried that Almec will imprison you, torture you, set you up as the puppet Duke. Am I right?"

He nodded. "Something like that."

"Then she won't let on that you and she are together. She's a great actress." Lagos smiled.

"Sounds like my mother hiding the fact that she loved Obi-wan and that I was on the way."

"Well at least she doesn't have..." She stopped and stared at the guilty grin on his face. Then she punched him in the arm. "You wish you could have gotten her pregnant before she flew away!"

He rubbed his arm, smiling. "It would have given her something to remember me."

"After everything I did to prevent it." Lagos unconsciously put her hand on her own stomach. Then she drew it away again and cleared her throat. "Well just don't do anything stupid. Although if she's resorted to working with Almec to protect you she may have cornered the market."

"Working with him or trying to get close enough to kill him?" Korkie worried.

"I wouldn't have thought that was possible if I hadn't seen..." Lagos shuddered.

"What? Tell me. It was something that happened in that hanger when ... when I was unconscious."

She nodded and took a deep breath. "There were three of them we were fighting against, Bo, Soniee, Amis, and me. And, and one of them shot Amis. Soniee just... she shouted, 'NO!' and then raised her hands and shoved them with the Force. The first one hit the wall. That sound, I'll never forget it. And then the other two... must have nicked a jetpack, caused an explosion, engulfed both of them. She killed all three of them."

Neither of them heard Bo-Katan enter behind them. "She didn't want you to know." She whispered to Korkie and both he and Lagos jumped. "but now that you do. That wasn't all. I followed her. She saw you on the ground and one of them came back to finish you off. She lifted him right off the ground without even touching him and started to throttle him."

Bo took a shaky breath at the memory. "I shot him. Put him out of his misery. I know what that feels like, being choked like that. Maul did it to me once."

Korkie was horrified but he was glad they had told him, glad he knew. "Well, I... I have to go there. I have to help her. I have to let her know that I'm fine and she needn't..."

"I believe if anyone could talk her down from something like that, you could," Bo agreed. "But, we have to bide our time. Almec will be looking for you. Of that I'm certain. You show your face now and she may have every reason to use her powers."

"But what am I supposed to do?" Korkie raked his fingers through his hair angrily making it stand on end. "I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

Lagos shrugged unhelpfully.

Bo sighed. "Gran said something about helping you to construct your _beskar'gam_."

"Yeah." Korkie grabbed onto the idea. "She did say that."

"A _buy'ce_ to hide your identity would be a good start." Bo nodded. "And while you're working on that I'll see what I can do about getting you a private comm link to Soniee. Might be tricky but if she's truly going to be the representative of Mandalore we want her to have all the information about what's going on here not just what Almec is bound to feed her."

Lagos caught on. "You mean leave her there on Coruscant as a true representative of our cause?"

"I don't like the idea of leaving her there unprotected." Korkie protested.

"I think she can take care of herself." Lagos smiled.

"And she's already been accepted by the Chancellor and the Senate." Bo went on. "It would be a shame to let a gift like this pass us by."

Korkie fumed. "But what if she doesn't want to do it? What if she just wants to come home?"

Bo put her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "If she really doesn't want to do this we will find a way to bring her home. But I want to give her the option first to do something important for Mandalore."

He nodded slowly. "We'll contact her and we'll see what she wants to do."


	38. Fox plays with fire

i'll get back to Mandalore and get all that caught up soon but i've had this scene in my head and it just had to be typed up. This is the aftermath of "clubbing with clones" from Fox's point of view. poor Fox.

* * *

Fox hadn't needed any alcohol after the kiss. He was completely intoxicated by Soniee Ordo. He had warned her about that last drink she took, and he had been there to catch her when she passed out. A few of his brothers encouraged him to take her to a room upstairs, but he knew that's not what she would want. Instead, Fox scooped her up into his arms, grabbed her helmet, and called a skycab to take them back to Senator Amidala's apartment.

The Senator gave him a disappointed frown when the arrived but that was nothing to the telling off he got from the droid. Still he would not be swayed. "I wanna be here when she wakes up, make sure she's okay."

Padme shook her head. "Commander I'm not sure that would be a good idea. She'll be fine here. You're welcome to come back in the morning..."

"Please, Senator, I wouldn't feel like I had done my duty if I didn't see the job through to the end." Truthfully, he didn't know what he would do with himself for the rest of his free shift. He just wanted to be near Soniee, to watch her sleep if that was all he was able to do.

She sighed. "Alright. Give 1K0 and I a moment to get her ready for bed and then you can sit in the chair and guard her if you feel it's necessary." She gave him a hard look. "But if she wakes up and asks you to leave because you're making her uncomfortable, you leave immediately."

"Yes, Ma'am. Of course."

He could have just sat there staring at her, the light from the never sleeping Galactic city streaming through the blinds over her beautiful form. No, her _Mesh'la_ form, he reminded himself and then he got an idea of what he could do while he sat. He pulled out a datapad and searched for Mando'a. He was determined that when she woke he would be able to converse with her. He was a quick study. All clones were and soon he would be able to tell her what was in his heart, in her native tongue.

Fox read not only about the language but also about the culture and _Resol'nare_ , the tenants of Mandalorian life. He already wore armor similar to the _beskar'gam_ of the _Mando'ade_ and he was learning the language. He supposed the Chancellor was like his Mand'alor and his brothers made up his clan. When he thought of protecting his family and raising children as Mandalorians though, he could only think of Soniee.

He'd never imagined being a father before, but now he could picture her with their child. He could also picture her as a young widow, because she would surely outlive him. Even if he did make it through the war, his accelerated growth would only allow a few precious years for him to spend with her. He didn't want to waste a moment of it.

He fell to staring at her again. He remembered how she sought him out after each dance at the club, or how her gaze would find his over the shoulder of her dance partner, and marveled at how she knew him among all his brothers. Not just knew him. What was the Mando'a word? to know, _kar'taylir_ , to hold in the heart. And that was exactly how he felt about her, that he held her in his heart.

She was lying, curled up on her side with her back to him and as he watched her he noticed her shiver. "Are you cold?" He asked softly.

"Hold me." She breathed sleepily.

Had he imagined it? No, he was sure he hadn't. Quick to obey, Fox climbed onto the bed and spooned around her. He didn't presume to get under the covers with her. He was fully clothed minus his armor plating and she was wearing the nightgown that Padme and the droid had changed her into. Still it felt very intimate to lie there next to her. Her small body fit perfectly against his but he wasn't sure where to put his hands.

Finally, with one arm pillowed under his head, he settled the other hand on her hip. She didn't pull away and even seemed to snuggle back a little closer to him. His hand slid from her hip down into the lovely valley of her waist.

She raised her arm over her head and the fabric of her nightgown tugged his hand up further to rest on her ribs. After that, it was too delicious a temptation not travel the final few centimeters cup her small round breast.

Soniee breathed a sound of pleasure that was not quite a moan and squirmed against him. Shebs pressed against his steadily swelling organ, was almost to much for Fox. He gently squeezed the breast through the fabric of her nightgown, finding the nipple with the side of his thumb. He teased and fondled and all the time waited for her to tell him to stop. But she didn't so he slid his arm further around her, meaning to give the other breast the same attention.

She had to roll toward him slightly, more on her back now than on her side, to give him better access. Her eyes were still closed but her face was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, reacting to his worship of her body. He placed a light kiss on her temple and then continued with his exploration.

Down from her breast his hand found the sweet depression of her navel and then the chime for the comm in her helmet rang. He wanted to ignore it but she gave a throaty giggle and said, "Better get that, might be important."

"I'll take care of it." He dragged himself away from her after a quick kiss on the nose and she rolled back over onto her side.

She called to him sleepily. "And then you can come back and kriff me, Korkie."

Korkie? That wasn't a word he knew. As he crossed the room to pick up her helmet, he thought back over the Mando'a he had absorbed earlier. No, it wasn't in his limited knowledge of the subject. Perhaps it wasn't a Mando'a word at all. Maybe it was something else entirely. He grinned. Maybe it was something she liked during sex. He was going to find out. As soon as he got rid of whoever this caller was, Fox was definitely going to find out exactly what she liked.

He took care of the comm but when he got back to her, Soniee was sound asleep.

* * *

i'll give you 3 guesses who the comm is from but you're probably only going to need one. poor Fox.

edit: got the chapter all posted. went in to clean the kitchen and this song came up on my pandora. For Fox:

Eavesdrop by The Civil Wars

I don't want to talk right now  
I just want your arms wrapped around  
Me and this moment before it runs out

Oh, don't say that it's over  
Oh, no, say it ain't so  
Let's let the stars watch, let them stare  
Let the wind eavesdrop, I don't care  
For all that we've got, don't let it go  
Just hold me

I can't pull you any closer than this  
It's just you and the moon on my skin  
Oh, who says it ever has to end...


	39. meanwhile on Mandalore 5

Getting Korkie all caught up to the present and he's not going to like it very much. This takes place during the chapters "Udesii" through "Fox plays with fire" with special attention to Soniee reaching out to him in "Representative Ordo" and poor Korkie knowing that something is wrong with her leading up to and during the party.

* * *

It was almost two full standard days later before Korkie felt Soniee reach out to him again and he worried about her almost constantly during that time. Bo-Katan left Gran's after only a day. Lagos teased him that it was because she was sick of his constant questions about if she had found a way to contact Soniee. He was sure it had something to do with the Night Owls. They wouldn't remain idle when there was so much at stake.

He could also tell that Lagos longed to be with them. Bo had accepted her among their ranks, but his fellow cadet seemed to be as much a captive in Gran's house as he was. Maybe Bo had just set her the task of minding him.

Working on his _beskar'gam_ was a welcome distraction and while they worked Gran drilled them on the ancient tenants of the _Mando'ade_. They had learned all of it before but much of the warrior culture was treated as only history in their New Mandalorian Academy training. Gran made the old stories seem alive and relevant to their current situation.

Still, in every free moment Korkie thought of Soniee. He wondered what she was doing, what she was seeing. Sometimes he just ached to touch her, to kiss her, to hold her in his arms. He wondered if these particular sensations were part of their connection, if perhaps she was thinking of him, too. He didn't even allow himself to ponder the idea that she might be kissing or being held by someone else. It was too preposterous to even consider.

And then one afternoon Bo came back, not with members of the Night Owls but holding the hand of a toddler, a little girl with blond pigtails and her thumb in her mouth. Gran brightened at the sight of the child and laid down the chest plate she was shaping. "Sabine!"

The little girl ran to hug her.

Bo-Katan smiled. It was a softer smile than Korkie had yet seen on her face. "She was happy with Clan Wren but she wanted to come and see her Gran."

"Who is she?" Korkie whispered to Lagos who shrugged.

Bo answered him. "She's your cousin. You think your mother was the only one with secrets?"

"Well, no I..." He looked at the child now and recognized her resemblance to the toddler he'd seen on his grandmother's lap in the holo Gran had showed him. He smiled.

Lagos went over to introduce herself to the little girl. She seemed to take quite an interest. Korkie had never thought of his friend as being very fond of children. This nurturing side of her was a complete surprise.

He was still a little standoffish. The whole thing reminded him again of his mother and father. While the others were distracted by Sabine's arrival he was alone again with his thoughts of Soniee. The words she had echoed, the words that voice had chanted into her mind, came back to him, as did that feeling that he needed to be with her.

Then finally she reached out to him again. It was only for a brief moment but she seemed so much calmer more confident. No voice interrupted the contact. She merely brushed his mind as if to reassure him that she was well. She was thinking of her Ordo'Buir and Lagos as well. Korkie wondered if they could feel the touch of her mind like he could. She must have made things up with her Momma because there was no resentment there. Her thoughts of Lagos were all compassion, remembering the loss of their friend Amis.

N _i partayli, gar darasuum._ I remember you, so you are eternal _._ Korkie repeated the phrase.

Then he threw himself back into the construction of his armor. His little cousin, Sabine , wanted to help him paint it and he smiled, humoring her. It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon until the uneasiness gripped him again.

It was worry for Soniee that he felt, but also that unexplainable urge hold her, and to physically express all the passion that had been pent up inside him during their time apart. He went up to his bedroom and started pacing. Something was wrong. She was in danger. She was afraid.

Bo-Katan came to see if he was alright. He almost turned her away but she insisted. "I have something for you."

She handed him a helmet . She had painted it to match the designs he'd been working on earlier on his beskar'gam.

"It's, uh, nice," he said still worrying about Soniee and he threw the helmet on the bed.

"It's not just cute hat to go with the outfit, you know." She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him.

"Yeah, I know. Thank you." He glanced at the helmet again and then resumed pacing. There was a moment of extreme panic that he was sure wasn't from his own mind and then all he could feel was a numbness. Whatever it was that Soniee had been going through it seemed to reach a climax and then it was just as suddenly over.

Bo-Katan watched him curiously. "Are you alright?"

"I - don't know." He sat down on the edge of the bed and rested his head in his hands.

"Something's happened to her. You could feel it?"

He shook his head. "I don't know what it was but it feels like it's over now."

"And she's alright?"

"I think so?" he didn't know what to think. It had been so powerful. She had been so powerful for a brief moment and then she seemed to have pulled back from the Force.

Bo laid a hand on his arm. "Take some time to calm down. We'll let you be alone. Then take a look at the _buy'ce_ , maybe you can find some answers."

She left the room and closed the door behind her. He was glad she hadn't asked any questions. He wondered what she meant about finding answers in his helmet, and then he thought he knew. She must have figured out a way for him to contact Soniee. He picked up the helmet and put it on. It did have a comm system and there was an ID already programed into it. But he couldn't just activate it. After what he had felt, after what she seemed to have just experienced, he wasn't sure he was ready to speak to her yet or that she would be ready to hear from him.

For hours he waited, thinking, worrying, pacing, nearly picking up the helmet and activating the comm and then thinking better of it. Finally he simply couldn't wait to hear her voice any longer. He selected the comm ID for her helmet and activated the link.

It took longer than he thought for an answer to come. She must not have been wearing the helmet. Maybe she was sleeping or in the other room. He hadn't thought about time of day. He didn't even know what time it was here in Keldabe. He was so ready to hear her but it wasn't her voice that answered.

It was a male voice, impatient as if he'd been interrupted and wanted to get back to whatever he had been doing. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" Korkie asked, shocked.

"Who is this?" the voice asked in return.

"Korkie Kryze. Where's Soniee? What are you doing with her helmet?"

"Korkie." The man repeated as if the name were distasteful and then answered. "She's sleeping, can't be bothered right now."

"Who are you to tell me... Soniee will want to speak to me. We haven't spoken in... Just get her and put her on."

There was silence for a moment and then. "I - don't think so. She's had a hard night, needs her rest. You can comm her back tomorrow when she's had time to sleep it off."

Korkie tried to wrap his mind around that. A hard night he could believe, that he had felt for himself, but 'sleep it off'? Had she tried to drink away the experience? And what was she doing sleeping with this character. His mouth went dry. She wasn't sleeping with him was she? Anger caused his words to tremble. "Who are you? Bonteri?"

Finally the _chakaar_ answered, "Bonteri's in the med center. I'm CC-1010, Commander Fox. You don't have to worry, Korkie, I'll take care of Soniee." And then the comm went dead.

Korkie took off his helmet and threw it across the room. Soniee was sleeping with a clone.

* * *

oh my the drama! and did you notice that little rebel pop up in the middle? i introduced little Saby as Bo's daughter in the epilogue of Duchess Diaries but i don't know if anybody caught it. i'm still convinced Sabine and Korkie are cousins. until i'm proven wrong ;)  
new season of Rebels in 15 days!  
the Star Wars: Ahsoka novel on Oct. 11!  
the Rogue One: Catalist novel on Nov. 15!  
Rogue One movie on Dec. 16!  
so much fuel for my imagination!


	40. the morning after

Do you think Fox likes all things Mando because of Soniee or that he likes her because she's Mando'ad? hmmm...  
anywho all caught up now. she wakes up and doesn't remember a thing.

* * *

When she woke her head was pounding. She tried to open her eyes but the light only made it worse. She knew where she was though, synthsilk sheets, her own night gown, she was back in Padme's apartment. She had no idea how she had gotten there or what had gone on most of the night before but at least...

"You're awake." Fox's voice.

Fierfek! What was he doing here in her room? She pulled the covers up to her chin. "Fox?"

"Yeah, I'm here. It's okay."

She forced her eyes open even though it made her head ache and waited till he came into focus. "We didn't..."

"No, nothing like that," he said but he looked a little guilty and she could sense through the force that he wasn't being entirely truthful.

She sat up slowly, facing away from him, very aware that her nightgown was rather thin. She pressed her hands to her temples trying to still the spinning.

"I uh brought you here. You passed out at 79s and I thought you'd rather be here than in one of the rooms there." He gave half a laugh as if he would ever have actually considered that.

"I'd rather be home, on Mandalore." she mumbled. "Where's Padme?"

"Emergency session of the senate."

She nodded, that hurt more, and said, "My head feels like I did a couple of rounds of _Dha Werda Verda_."

"You borrowed my armor." She could hear the smile in his voice even though she wasn't looking at him.

"I didn't."

"Well, you spent most of it telling the _vode_ not to go easy on you and arguing about the lyrics."

She couldn't help but smile about that.

"Soniee, I..."

She was a little afraid of what he was going to say next but she surely wasn't expecting...

"Who's Korkie?"

She stuttered, "W-well, he's... what you have to understand is... his life would be in danger if... he's the heir to..."

She could feel Fox moving closer and then sitting down beside her on the bed.

"Was he your lover?" Fox didn't care about the politics. He was jealous.

"Did... did I say something? Did I say his name?"

He reached over and took her hand. "Do you want to get back to him? Back home?"

Soniee swallowed and whispered, "More than anything."

He cleared his throat. This was obviously hard for him. "That ship you flew in on. It was registered in your name at the Temple hanger?"

"Y-yes?" she answered confused.

"You were cleared of all charges and your ship was destroyed on Temple property. Seems like the Jedi owe you a new ship."

"What?" Maybe she still wasn't thinking correctly.

"Well maybe not a new one but a replacement for the one you lost."

"A ship?" She looked at his hand holding hers.

"Usually these things take a while, especially since they're busy with the bombing, and Commander Tano..."

"Oh well, I wouldn't..."

"But if you want I could talk to the quarter master, speed things up." His other hand joined the first gently caressing hers.

"You would do that for me?" she asked.

Fox nodded. "Unless..."

She finally looked up at his face. "Unless?"

"Unless you changed your mind... wanted to stay here, on Coruscant, with me." And then his lips were on hers and he was kissing her with such passion that she thought her heart would burst. It was the same blood racing, electric, sensation she had experienced the night before but it felt real. No one was possessing Commander Fox. He really and truly loved her, wanted her, and Soniee was swept away in the moment.

"If you want me to stop, I'll stop." He assured her but she didn't stop him.

She laid back on the bed and he went right with her, his lips never leaving hers.

He maneuvered them into a more comfortable position so he wasn't crushing her and then whispered between kisses, "Son'ika, gar baar ori mesh'la!" _Your body is so beautiful_!

"Gar hibirar Mando'a par ni?" _You learned Mando'a for me?_ she asked.

"Elek, cyar'ika." _Yes, beloved_. "Ni cuyir gar burc'ya," _I'll be your friend_. "gar aliit, gar cabur." _your family, your protector._ "buir be gar ade..." _father of your children_...

She knew she should tell him no, tell him to stop, but feirfek, what was he doing to her?

"Ni kar'tayl gar!" _I hold you in my heart_!

Her body rebelled against her mind, responding as his hands grew impatient with the cloth between them and tugged at her nightgown, hungry to feel her skin.

And then she froze. The voice was laughing again in her mind. _It seems I chose the wrong partner to tempt you._

 _Ne shab'rud'ni..._ Don't mess with me, She thought back at it.

 _Will this simple clone encourage you to draw on your feelings and reach your potential_? The voice asked.

"Usenye be ner kovid!" _Get out of my head!_ She pushed Fox from herself with the Force. He flew off the bed, slid a meter across the floor, and slammed hard into the wall.

He sat there stunned and the laughter echoed in the midst of her fear that she had hurt him just has she had hurt Lux. She tried to ignore it, going to him to see if he was alright.

But he asked her first, reaching up and touching her hair tenderly. "Son'ika, are you okay?"

"Fox, I..." She dissolved into tears. "I'm so sorry." She gritted her teeth against the nagging laughter.

Fox gathered her into his arms. "No, no. _K'uur_ . It's okay. It wasn't your fault. _Udesii_ now, _k'uur_."

"Did I hurt you?" she asked pulling away and looking him over.

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm fine." His concern was still for her. "It's the same thing that happened with Senator Bonteri, isn't it?"

She nodded, trembling, ashamed. "When I feel strong emotion it... it's in my head." She rubbed at her temples.

He kissed the top of her head and held her closer. "Udesii," _Take it easy_. He continued his efforts to calm her.

She laid her head on his chest and tried to remember what Kenobi had taught her. It seemed so long ago, that flight from Mandalore. "There is no emotion, there is peace," she whispered.

He must have been able to feel the tension start to ease from her shoulders. "There. That's right, _k'uur_. It's over now."

"I want to go home," she cried.

"I'll make sure you get there, Son'ika. I'll get you that ship."

"Thank you, Fox." She would have liked to just be held in his comforting arms but, suddenly she straitened up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I want to see if Lux is okay."

His jaw tightened and she felt the jealousy in him again. "Soniee, when you said that was like what happened with him. Before you pushed him away, the two of you... weren't..."

She quickly stood and took a few steps away from him. "I told you Lux and I are just friends. Whatever happened, whatever was going to happen, it... it wasn't him. It was...something forcing him... forcing me..."

She heard him grunt as he stood. She had hurt him but he was trying not to let it show. She was also sure he was limping slightly as he stepped up behind her. "Nothing was forcing me just now," he whispered. "And, well, forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you were being forced to do anything you didn't want to do either."

Soniee trembled. That scared her almost more than anything else. She hadn't pushed him away until she heard the voice. What would she have done, let him do, if the voice had not interrupted?

"And those weren't just Mando'a words I memorized from some holo." He put his hands on her shoulders her heart rate and breathing starting to pick up pace again. "I really would like to be your clan, your protector..."

She stopped him before he could continue. "Fox..."

He rested his forehead against the top of her head and whispered into her hair, "Soniee, I love you."

"I know..." It was all she could say. She took a deep, shaky breath trying to recover and then asked him, "You'll have to report for duty soon, won't you?"

"Yeah, but I have enough time to see you to the Medcenter first, if you still want to go."

"I-I do." She turned to face him feeling a little more in control of herself and trying not to notice how his eyes traveled over her with longing.

After a moment he cleared his throat and tried to look at the window, the wall, the floor, anywhere but at the small female in the thin nightgown, with the sleep tousled hair, and lips still a little swollen from his kisses. "I'll step out then and let you get dressed."

"Vor entye." _Thank you_.

He walked toward the door but looked back. "Just promise me you'll be thinking about what I said, about staying here with me."

It was exactly what Korkie had said to her. She nearly choked but managed, "I-I will."


	41. please don't bend my heart

title comes from the song "Please Don't Bend" by Donovan.

Please don't bend my heart  
Made of Glass  
I can't promise to be here for you.  
Please don't bend my heart  
She said to me  
I can't promise to be here for you.

* * *

As soon as Fox was out the door 1K0 came bustling in, complaining, "Not a date, was it?"

Soniee sighed. It seemed a moment of peace and quiet to think was not anywhere in her immediate future. "It didn't start out that way. I thought he had sort of a crush on me but, 1K0, he said he's in love with me."

The bunny droid nodded as she rummaged through one of the trunks of clothes and pulled out a casual outfit for the day. "The duchess also had her share of admirers but she knew where to draw the line." 1K0 waddled back to her. "You, Mistress Soniee, have a prior claim on your affections."

"I do." She agreed as she submitted to the droids' help to dress.

"I have no doubt you will let the clone down gently."

Soniee wasn't sure if that was possible. She had just told him she would think about staying with him. With the lingering headache and the very recent memory of how he had kissed her, she didn't know what she wanted anymore. She finished dressing in the tunic and pants that had already been hemmed to her measurements and then began to plait her hair into a simple braid.

"This arrived for you this morning, Mistress." 1K0 held out a data pad and Soniee took it from her curiously. "I believe it came from Mandalore."

That made her a little hesitant to turn the thing on but she did so and found... "It's my Academy exam papers! The _chakaar_ was true to his word." She added the last bit under her breath. But she couldn't start on them now. Fox was scheduled to go back on duty soon and she couldn't have him be late on top of everything else. She deactivated the pad and tossed it on the bed. Then she grabbed her helmet and started for the door while pulling it on.

"Oh do you have to wear that thing?" 1K0 whined. "You'd look so much prettier with your hair up in this headband."

"I think pretty is the last thing I need to be right now if I'm going explain things to Fox."

"Hmmm, perhaps I should have put you back in your Jedi garb."

Soniee sighed. "I don't think it'll matter much. He seems to like me just as well in whatever I wear."

She donned the helmet and stepped out of the bedroom to find Fox also now in full kit. She couldn't tell his facial expression but the way he limped quickly toward her, set his gloved hands on her shoulders and tapped the forehead of his helmet against hers, she was sure he must be grinning.

Had he read about that when he was learning Mando'a, she wondered? They called it the Keldabe kiss because it was the only way for a couple to show affection when they were in full _beskar'gam_.

" _Mesh'la darasuum_." Beautiful as always, he whispered. "Don't know if I care to let you visit Senator Bonteri looking so lovely."

"L-let me?" she stammered and then went on with a little more control. "I may call you by your title, _Al'verde_ , but I believe I can still do what I like."

"Of course, My Lady." He stepped back and gave her a slight bow.

Soniee was reminded that 'My Lady' was what the Duchess was called, and of what Almec had said that if she was to marry Korkie that would be her title too. She swallowed. "Shall we be going then? I don't want you to be late on my account."

"Well, part of my job description is protecting members of the senate, so I doubt they'll go too hard on me if I'm late for escorting a Representative to a meeting with a Senator."

She nodded. She was still the Mandalorian Representative to the senate and then she remembered. "You said Padme was at an emergency Senate meeting. Did she say what it was for?"

"It was," he hedged, placing a hand on the small of her back to lead her out the door. "something about Commander Tano, arrangements for her trial." They walked slowly toward the landing platform where he could call a sky cab.

"Why didn't someone tell me? I should have been there. I should be there now. It's part of my responsibility, isn't it, as a representative? I'll go there now and I can see Lux later." She wanted to rush ahead get there as soon as possible but she could sense his pain from the injuries she had given him, so she went along with his measured pace.

"I'm sorry, Soniee. I think they had their vote hours ago." While they waited for the cab, his hand snaked a little tighter around her waist, protective but also possessive.

"Well what did they decide?" she asked.

"I'm not entirely sure but I'll find out for you if you like."

"Yes, please." She was just beginning to feel uncomfortable and was going to step away from him and say something when the cab hovered in front of them and waited for them to board.

The Rodian cabby nodded to them silently, but watched them through his mirror with interest whenever he could look away from the skyway. "Didn't know they were cloning females now."

It took Soniee a moment to realize that he was referring to the fact that she and Fox were both wearing their helmets. She could sense that the driver was joking and nearly laughed aloud but she could see Fox's fist clench in the seat next to her. She patted the fist and then informed the driver. "Yes, we come trained to kill a man in 37 different ways with our bare hands."

Fox's visor turned to face her and then she did laugh. It broke some of the tension that she'd been feeling.

The cabby laughed also and said, "Guess I'll have take that under consideration before I place my order with Kamino."

Fox shook his head. "This one's like no other female in the galaxy." He slid a little closer to her in the seat, put his hand on her knee, and began massaging ever so gently.

"Did you hear the news," The cabby continued to try to make small talk. "About the Jedi who's being kicked out of the Order?"

It was a question that piqued Soniee's interest but Fox's hand had begun to travel higher up her thigh and she had to put a stop to that before she could inquire. She squeezed his hand and moved it back down to her knee, whispering, "Fox, please." Then she tried to keep her voice level and answered, "No, I hadn't heard that. Who was it? Why?"

"Some Padawan, the one they think bombed the temple. Senate didn't think it would be very objective for her to have an internal Jedi trial." He informed them. "It'll be a Republic Military tribunal for that one."

"Ahsoka!" Soniee gasped. "But she wouldn't, she couldn't..."

Fox took his hand from her knee and put his arm around her shoulders instead. "An objective trial will be a good thing."

The driver swerved in traffic and looked back at Soniee in the mirror. "Did you, er, know her?"

"Anyone who knows Ahsoka would know she's not capable of the things they say she did!" she exclaimed.

Fox didn't speak but Soniee remembered that he had said he was the one who had found her in the cell after Letta Turmond had been killed and he had seen his brothers' bodies after her escape.

"They, er, said the trial would be later today," the driver ventured. "Probably be carried on the holonet with all the interest in the case..." His words petered out and they were quiet for the rest of the trip.

Soniee would have liked to scoot a little further away, but Fox seemed determined to comfort her. As soon as they had come to a stop at the medcenter, however, she jumped from the cab and hurried toward the entrance. Fox limped as fast as he could to catch up to her just inside the lobby.

"You're hurt." Her voice was accusing but she blamed herself entirely.

"I'm fine." He tried to assure her leading her once again with a hand on the small of her back toward the front desk.

The receptionist was young, human, and female, probably not too much older than Soniee, and she was very pretty. Maybe the whoever ran the medcenter thought she would be more welcoming than a droid but at the moment she was staring at a holoscreen that was playing some sort of gossip program.

"Excuse me," Fox cleared his throat and she looked up. He continued, "Hi, I've got Representative Soniee Ordo here to visit a patient, Senator Bonteri."

The receptionist perked up. "Did you say Ordo and Bonteri?" She tilted her head slightly, looking at Soniee's helmet as if she might be able to see around it or through it to the celebrity inside. "I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

"I hope so," Soniee mumbled. She didn't ask how the woman knew her but she caught a few words from the holo program about some senator's rather indiscreet affair and had a pretty good idea.

The woman pushed a few buttons on the console in front of her and a holocard popped out of a slot. She looked at it and connected a clip to the top. "Put on this visitor badge." She handed it to Soniee. "Senator Bonteri's on the 16th floor room 16034. If you get lost just tap the badge it will instruct you where to go." She smiled and pointed toward the lifts.

"Thank you." Soniee clipped the badge to her tunic, then she turned in the direction the woman had indicated and started walking, ready to be away from the prying eyes.

"Is it true," The woman called after her. "That you're really from Onderon and you and Lux might be related?"

Soniee stopped and looked back glad she had the helmet on so that no one could see how flushed she had become. "You seem to know more about it than I do."

Fox limped over to her. But before he could say anything a med droid passed by and looked him over as if scanning him. Maybe it was scanning him. "You should have that hip looked at." And then it started to go on it's way.

Soniee called to it. "Why don't you check him over?"

The droid turned back and looked at her.

"Please, Soniee, it's not necessary. I'm fine, really." Fox was whispering and started to give her a gentle shove toward the lifts.

"I am only required to tend to Republic citizens." The droid informed her.

Soniee was taken aback. What did that mean? "I'm not a Republic citizen. I'm from a neutral system. Would you treat me if I was hurt?"

The droid glanced at her badge. "You are a representative to the senate and a guest of the republic. If you were in need of treatment I would be obliged to provide. As it is." He gave her a quick scan. "I believe a strong cup of caf would be the best medicine for a night's overindulgence." And with that he turned and went about his business.

"Someone ought to reprogram that one's bed side manor." Fox put a protective hand on her back once again and drew her over to a quiet spot around the corner.

"Was it true what he said?" Soniee asked. "That they won't treat you because you're not..."

He tried to brush it off as if it didn't make any difference. "We've got our own medics at the base. I'd rather be seen by them then that ol' tin can anyhow."

"It's not fair, though." She ranted, quietly. "You're out there protecting them everyday. You should have the same rights as any citizen."

She could hear him smiling as he said, "Bucket off, Miss."

She obeyed and she heard the seals release on his helmet as well. He was gazing at her and she looked away, embarrassed. Then he placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her face up towards him and bent to kiss her.

It didn't last long. She broke the connection almost as soon as it had begun. "Fox, I..."

"I'm sorry." He didn't sound sorry. "I know it's a public place and you have a reputation to uphold," he continued with a smirk and then he took the helmet out of her hands and laid it beside his on the floor at their feet. He took both her hands in his and looked her in the eye. "Soniee, I want you to know that I'm serious about this, about you staying here."

She thought she knew what was coming and she knew she had to say something, to tell him about Korkie, or at least that she had already said 'yes' to someone else. She opened her mouth but he only laid a finger on her lips to silence her.

"There was something else I read about when I was studying Mando'a." He rearranged their grip, hand to wrist, as if they were about to make a Mandalorian pact.

"Fox, please I..."

He silenced her with a look and then began, " _Mhi solus tome, Mhi solus dar'tome_..."

She flinched as if she would pull her hands away. He held them firm but gently.

" _Mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde_ ," he finished the Mandalorian wedding vow in a heartfelt whisper.

"Fox, I can't." She had tears in her eyes.

" _K'urr_ , hush, I know you're not ready to say the words back to me now." He brushed a thumb over her cheek to dry it. "I just want you to know that if-when you're ready, I'll be waiting." Then with a look of desperation on his face He pulled her into a longer more passionate kiss.

She was trembling when he released her, he bent to pick up their helmets, and handed hers to her. "Go and see, Bonteri. Comm me when your through?" he asked and he seemed more shy now like the first time he'd taken off his helmet in the diner. "If I can't come and see you back to Senator Amidala's I'll send one of the _vode_ to escort you."

Words wouldn't come so she merely nodded.

Fox smiled, reached forward, and tapped her visitor badge. "Turn left, board the lift, and let it carry you to the 16th floor..." it began to instruct her in a soft female voice.

"Better do what it says." He turned her toward the lifts and she took a couple of steps before she looked back again.

"Fox." She found her voice again but the words that came out were not really the words she needed to say. "Please tell me you'll go and see the medic when you get to the base."

"I promise, _cyar'ika."_

She stepped onto the lift, then turned, and held his gaze until the doors slid shut.

* * *

Translation of the Mandalorian wedding vows from "Republic Commando: Order 66" by Karen Traviss

We are one when together,  
we are one when parted,  
we share all,  
we will raise warriors.


	42. girl talk

Soniee could really use some advice right now and she's going to get it from an unexpected but perfectly timed source.

* * *

Somewhere around the 5th floor, Soniee stopped the lift and slid down the wall till she was sitting on the floor, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She was practically hyperventilating and didn't think she was capable of facing Lux quite yet.

She wished she had someone to talk to. She guessed some girls would talk to their mothers about something like this. Ordo'buir's love-life or lack there of, didn't give Soniee much hope of great advice coming from that quarter.

She didn't talk about it but Soniee had picked up enough of the history to suspect that Veeka had lost someone during the Civil War and then had put her energy into raising her adopted daughter after Soniee had crashed into her life. There was once when she was little that Soniee thought Momma might make a love connection again. The man in question however had heard one too many rumors about the strange things that seemed to happen around Veeka's precious ad'ika, and he didn't stick around.

"We don't need a man, do we Son'ika? You and me, we'll be fine, just the two of us." That's what Momma would say. Of course she denied that he left because of Soniee. They had Ba'buir but that was as close as Soniee had ever gotten to having a dad.

No Ordo'buir was not the person Soniee wanted to talk to about this, especially after she had just proclaimed to her mother, her undying love for Korkie. Still, who else was there?

Soniee put on her helmet and pulled up the comm system. When she did, she noticed something strange. It looked like someone had tried to send a comm. It wasn't Momma's ID or Fox's those were both saved in the memory. This one was new but she didn't remember getting a call. She vaguely remembered having a dream that involved a comm coming in. That had to have been a dream. Korkie was in it. Still, Soniee was curious.

She hesitated just a moment and then activated a comm to the mystery ID. No one picked up for a long time and she almost deactivated it but then she heard a yawn and a sleepy voice answer, "Hello?"

Soniee would know that voice anywhere. How many times had she heard that voice tell her to 'shut the kriffing light off' in their dorm room when she was working on some project late into the night?

"Lagos?"

"Soniee, is that you?"

"Force, Lagos, it is you! I am not even going to ask how your ID ended up in my comm system. You are exactly the person I need to talk to!"

"Soniee, are you okay? What's going on? We heard you were at the Jedi Temple and then we saw a holo of you in the Galactic Senate. It's not true that you're working with Almec, is it?"

"Well, not exactly. But there's something else, I really need to talk to you about. I don't know who else I would talk to about it. It's just the craziest thing. Really, totally insane..."

Lagos gave a tired chuckle. "Go on, spill."

"There's this guy, and he's really amazing. He's handsome and he's sweet and he's a warrior, I mean like a real soldier. Momma would like that. And he's smart and he's funny and," she took a breath. "And he just recited the 'Mhi Solus' to me."

"Hello!" Lagos was wide awake now. "You didn't say it back, did you?"

"No, I couldn't. I mean he's great and all but, he's - he's not..."

"He's not Korkie?" Lagos finished for her.

"Yeah."

"It's not that Senator Bonteri is it?"

Soniee sighed, "No, Lux is... just a friend. I actually think he might be in love with Padawan Ahsoka."

"Really? I thought Jedi couldn't, but, well obviously... So this guy, does he have a brother?"

Soniee gave a nervous laugh. "Only a couple million."

"You mean he's a," Lagos lowered her voice although it was completely unnecessary. "He's a clone?"

"It's so unfair." Soniee growled. "Padme said their growth was accelerated so they could be sent into battle sooner. They age at twice the normal speed but that means they have half the lifespan, and that's if they live through the fighting. They don't get paid. They have no choice if they want to fight or not. They're not even considered citizens of the Republic. It's just wrong!"

"So, you feel sorry for him?"

"No. Well, yeah, but it's not just that. Fox is an individual. He's not just a copy. He wants to be Mando. He learned Mando'a overnight, for me."

"But he's still not Korkie."

"No, he's not." Soniee was working herself up to ask. "How is Korkie? Is he there? Can I talk to him?"

"Actually..." there was a pause. "I'm not sure where he is. This is his buy'ce you commed. Bo just gave it to him. I heard the comm ping and came in to see what it was but he's not here."

A heavy knot of dread settled in Soniee's stomach. "Did he try to comm me? Is that why I have this ID in my system?"

"I guess so. You know more about tech than I do. I know he was upset yesterday. He seemed to think you were in some kind of danger. Bo talked to him, gave him the bucket and then she said it would be best to leave him alone for a while. I don't know if he tried to comm you after that..."

"He did. Fierfek!" Soniee swore. "It wasn't a dream. I heard the comm ping and I told him to get it... but it wasn't him. And now he's gone off and done something stupid."

"Okay. Udesii. Now, what happened?" Lagos asked, completely lost.

Soniee took a deep breath and then plunged in. "I had a dream last night, or I thought it was a dream, that I was with Korkie and the comm kind of interrupted... things. I told him to get it and then I must have fallen back asleep."

"You thought Korkie was there?"

"I thought it was dream! Then when I woke up this morning Fox was there and he said we didn't do anything but he was sort of dodgy and then... he asked me who Korkie was."

"First of all, you thought..." Lagos was building up her big sister steam now, Soniee could tell. "No wait, what was this Fox doing there when you woke up?"

Soniee was cowed, "I kind of had too much to drink last night and passed out. Fox brought me back to Senator Amidala's. That's where I'm staying. He wanted to make sure I was okay."

"You went out drinking with him and you hadn't told him about Korkie?"

"Well, I... I wasn't telling anybody about Korkie. I was afraid if anyone knew about us that he would be in danger."

Lagos huffed.

Soniee rushed on. "Hey, did Korkie get any comms from me, I mean back when you all were still at the academy?"

There was a pause. Lagos must have been trying to remember. "No, I don't think... well he must have. He said something about a comm saying that you were at the temple. He was really worried you were there when it was bombed but then he said he could _feel_ that you were alive, that you like reached out to him or something."

"He could feel that I reached out to him?" She paused biting her lip. "Well is that all he said? Did he get the whole message?"

"I don't think so. I think he had only discovered the comm when Bo was dragging him out before the whole place went up."

"At least nobody else got it," Soniee mumbled. "Look, I really need to talk to him. I need to hear his voice. I need to know if..." She wasn't going to take off her helmet to wipe away the tear that was tickling her cheek. "What if... what if the only reason Korkie and I were together was because there weren't a whole lot of options at the academy? What if I hadn't met the right person yet?"

"Do you honestly believe that? Come on, Soniee, I've seen the two of you together. You and Korkie were meant to be. You've been through a lot. And I get it, a nice, attractive guy really seems to like you and he was there when you were feeling lonely. You would have to be in a coma not to respond to that, so don't beat yourself up about it. Tell him the truth. You're off the market. And I will find Korkie and tell him to send you a comm."

"What if he's gone off some where? What if Almec's found him? What if..."

Lagos sighed. "He's probably in the 'fresher or raiding the kitchen. Don't worry, Soniee."

"Okay, okay. I'll try." Soniee stood up. "Thanks, Lagos." She almost activated the lift again and then stopped. "Are you doing okay?"

After a pause, Lagos said softly, "I miss him. Amis was... Well we never wanted to make a big thing about it. It just seemed like we were always together. I never imagined a time when we, all four of us, wouldn't be together." She sniffed and Soniee knew she was trying to suck it up, get back under control. "And I feel exhausted. I think it's just being stuck in this house with nothing to do. Bo thinks it would be better if we stayed off the radar for a while. The only good thing is... Did you know Bo has a kid?"

"I had no idea." Soniee hurt for her friend.

"She's adorable. She can be a complete terror one minute and then as sweet as can be the next. I hope Bo won't send her back to her clan too soon. Seb'ika sure livens up the place."

It was good for Soniee to hear the joy return to her friend's voice. She asked. "So where are you all staying? Or... maybe it would be safer if I didn't know."

"We... hmmm." Lagos thought for a second. "Do you remember hearing that the Duchess had a seamstress..."

"Stop." Soniee smiled. She remembered that Padme had wanted to check something when they were discussing the dressmaker's tag on one of Satine's dresses. She had been right to suspect. "Stop right there. Yes. Okay. Good! Ummm and can I comm back to this ID if I want to chat?"

"Well like I said," Lagos replied. "It's Korkie's bucket. I'll shove it on his head if I have to when I see him and make him send you a comm first."

"Okay."Soniee laughed. "Lagos, it was good to talk to you."

"You too, dalyc'vod."

Soniee deactivated the comm and reactivated the lift. Then she noticed that someone else had left a message while she was on with Lagos. She rolled her eyes indulgently when she heard Fox's voice.

"Hey, Cyar'ika, just wanted to let you know that I'm seeing the medic now. Everything's fine. Don't you worry. And from here I'm going straight to the quarter master. I'm gonna get you that ship, even if... even if it takes you away from me. Love you. See you soon."

She was going to break his heart, but what other choice did she have. The door to the lift opened to the 16th floor but Soniee pushed the button to close it again. She took off her helmet and stood there for a moment. She was afraid of the voice coming back again but she just had to try.

She closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. _Korkie, where are you?_ And she felt him there, not in a definite location but alive and angry. She wondered what he and Fox could have said to each other. She was going to have to confront Fox about that too. She wondered if Korkie could feel her now or if he was too angry to care. _Yes, my answer was - is yes!_ She tried to think at him, but it felt like he was throwing up a wall in her way.

Disappointed, but glad the voice was too preoccupied to bother her, Soniee sought out her other friends in the Force. She found Bo's star first and beside her the little star that must be the daughter Lagos had told her about. Soniee smiled and then she turned her attention to her friend. She again saw the broken star, but it wasn't broken. The smaller star, Soniee realized, wasn't broken at all. It was brand new, a new life. Lagos was... pregnant.


	43. the Wrong Jedi

well if you couldn't tell by the title we have finally reached Ahsoka's trial. all the dialogue from the trial comes from the episode "the wrong Jedi"  
i've been writing this chapter and the chapter that comes after this and skip one and the chapter that comes after that all at the same time this week as the inspiration came.  
i was kinda stuck as to what to do after the trial and then i watched the lost missions again so yeah.  
this chapter also ended up being a lot longer than the others. just had a point that i wanted to get to before the next chapter. that i had already started writing.  
so here you go: Lux, the trial, and another comm.

* * *

Soniee stepped out of the lift and preoccupied by the revelation about her friend's pregnancy, almost forgot where she was supposed to be going. She started walking absently down the 16th floor hallway, then stopped and tapped her visitor badge.

"Turn around and go back the way you have come," the badge instructed her.

After several turns down identical hallways, she finally found herself outside the door of room 16034.

"You have reached your destination," the badge informed her.

"Well thanks." She mumbled. "Hope you can help me find my way back out of here again."

She stared at the door. What would Lux say? It was her fault he was in here after all. It might be a very short visit. He might kick her out, call for security. She realized she hadn't really thought this through. She only wanted to make sure he was okay. She could have just asked at the desk how he was doing, or even commed from Padme's apartment. Why had she thought it was necessary to see Lux for herself.

"You have reached your destination," the badge said again.

"Yes, I know that." She snapped back at it. And then the door slid open in front of her.

"Ah, I thought I heard voices out there," called Lux. He was sitting up in his bed with a bandage wrapped around his head like a turban. Soniee could smell the sickly-sweet scent of Bacta. The bandage must have been infused with the stuff, doing it's healing work on Lux's skull. But he seemed alright. He even smiled at her. "Soniee, come in."

"Hi," she said softly, forcing her feet to take one step after another into the room. "I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me."

"Why wouldn't I want to see you? We're friends, aren't we?"

"Well yes, but..." She gestured at his turban. "I did that to you."

"I'm told it was self defense." He frowned. "I rather thought you wouldn't want to see me. I apologize. They said that I came on to you and that you pushed me away." He looked confused. "I don't know maybe I'd had too much wine or maybe there was someone else I wanted to kiss and you were just the one who..."

"No, no it wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for anything." Soniee hurried to reassure him. "You don't remember any of it? Nothing at all?"

His brow creased. "I remember being at the party and having a glass of wine. I don't believe I'd had more than one glass though. And then the news got 'round about Ahsoka being hunted in the lower levels. I took it rather badly, I think, wasn't a very good party guest. And then the Chancellor spoke to me. He reminded me that you had just lost your friend. The one you mentioned when we did that chant, Amis?"

She nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed, silently letting him continue.

"I'm sorry Soniee. I had no idea. Palpatine said that you and Amis were..."

"We... it's..." She had almost forgotten the lie she had told Almec and the Chancellor about why she had stayed in Sundari when the rest of the Academy cadets had been sent home.

Lux reached out and patted her hand.

Soniee flinched, but no voice urged her to further physical contact.

"He, the Chancellor, pointed you out across the room," Lux continued. "He said it might be good if I went to speak to you. When I looked for you again you had gone. And then... then... Then I woke up here at the med center." He shrugged.

She nodded, relieved that he didn't recall any more than that.

"What I don't get," Lux shook his head and then groaned and put a hand to his bandage. "Is how you had enough force to push me or pull down that vase or whatever it was you did."

"Force?" Soniee mumbled.

"Are you sure you're not a Jedi?"

"I'm not a..."

He gave her a disbelieving frown.

"I- I was never trained by the Order to use the Force." She admitted.

"But you can use the Force, can't you? Ha! I knew it!" Lux grinned smugly at her. Then his face softened into a look of concern. "So what happened then? Did I actually..."

"No," She denied quickly. "No it wasn't you. I mean it was you but you weren't, you weren't in control..."

"You think someone was controlling me?" Lux asked, alarmed.

"Yes, I mean, that's what it seemed like. I think..." She didn't feel any presence of the voice now so she felt more confident to be honest with him. "I think there's someone, a force user, who knows that I have powers and they're testing me, trying to make me use them, to see how far I'll go. They..." Soniee looked at him uncomfortably. "I think they wanted to see if I would ki- if I would hurt you. I..." she dropped her gaze, "I was trying not hurt you but..."

"Well, we've got to stop them. We'll go to Kenobi or one of the other Jedi. Surely they would know how to make this stop. You must have some idea of who's doing this to you?"

"I." Fear suddenly gripped her. She did have an idea of who was responsible but he was so powerful. If he could get into her head, if he could control Lux, if he wanted to tempt her to do such awful things, what would he do if he was exposed? She couldn't reveal his identity. "No!" she exclaimed and then tried to calm herself, "No, I don't have any idea who's doing it. And-and besides it seems fine today. Look here we are, alone together, and I feel no compulsion at all."

Lux gave her a concerned frown but he let the mater drop. "Alright, well then, tell me what's been going on while I've been out. I know they were... hunting Ahsoka last night. Did they... find her?"

Soniee heard the break in his voice and knew he was worried. It was probably the one thing he'd most been wanting to ask since he'd woken up. "Yes." Soniee began honestly but gently. "Yes, they found her. She's alive and well as far as I know. There was an emergency session of the Senate this morning about what to do with her. They..." She watched him for a reaction, and though he was guarding his emotions admirably, she could sense the turmoil inside him. "The Senate requested that she should stand before a Republic Military tribunal rather than an internal Jedi trial. That it would be more objective." Soniee hurried on believing it better to have it all out quickly and over with. "She was expelled from the Jedi order."

Lux let out a deep sigh of anger and sadness.

"Fox says it will be better for her to have a more objective trial."

"What about Padme?" Lux asked. "What did she say? She's friends with Ahsoka also."

"I haven't spoken to her," said Soniee. "She didn't come back to the apartment after the Senate meeting. Lux, I was told the trial would probably be holo recorded. It might be starting even now."

He turned to his bedside table and rummaged for the controller for the room's holo screen. It didn't take long to find a network that was carrying the trial.

The image of Admiral Tarkin's pinched face appeared and he read out the charges in his hard clipped voice. "Former Padawan Tano, I shall prove that you were the mastermind behind the attack on the Jedi Temple, and that, once your accomplices carried out your orders, you eliminated them one by one. When you are found guilty, I ask the court that the full extent of the law be brought down upon you, including penalty of death."

Lux and Soniee looked at each other and then back at the holo image where Senator Amidala stepped forward as the speaker for the defense.

"So, that's why she didn't come back." said Soniee. "Padme will set them straight." She patted Lux's hand encouragingly and then because he still looked worried and because she was feeling more comfortable in their just being friends with no interference from the Force, Soniee kept holding on to his hand for reassurance.

Padme made her opening statement, "Look at the facts. Letta Turmond called Ahsoka to her cell to reveal the name of the true mastermind behind the bombing of the Jedi Temple. Letta told Ahsoka she was afraid. She told her the mastermind was a Jedi, and before she could reveal the Jedi's name, Letta Turmond was strangled to death by way of the Force. Why would Ahsoka kill Letta with a method that would so obviously tie the murder to her? A Jedi may be responsible for the murder, but that Jedi is not Ahsoka Tano. Members of the court, you are prosecuting the wrong Jedi."

Tarkin walked up clapping, "Well said, Senator Amidala. However, if she is innocent, then why was she seen conspiring with known Separatist terrorist Asajj Ventress?"

"Ventress set me up. My master will prove that." Ahsoka, asserted.

"And where is your master?" Tarkin asked.

Ahsoka gestured with hands restrained in glowing blue binders. "He's trying to find the real murderer."

Tarkin glared at her. "Then maybe he should be looking at you!"

"Hey Soniee," Lux asked, turning away from the holoimage. "What if... Do you think it's possible that Ahsoka did those things that they say she did?"

"What?" Soniee was shocked. "I think you got a knock on the head."

"Yeah thanks." He smirked. "But what if some one is messing with her through the Force like they were messing with you. What if she did all that but it wasn't really her? And what if she doesn't remember, just like I don't remember what I did you you?"

"I suppose that's possible." Soniee had never thought of it before but it made sense, especially when the station announcer made way for the live trial coverage to continue and Palpatine himself began to speak to the court. She still couldn't quite believe that he was the Force user who was trying to seduce her to the dark side but she couldn't think of him as the kindly old ba'buir that she had once believed him to be either.

"I'm sure many of you look at this former Jedi and think, 'Surely she cannot be this murderer or saboteur that they speak of.' And yet, think of all the times we have been fooled by the Separatists, and how they have infiltrated the republic, and ask yourself, 'Is this yet another Separatist scheme, another way to rip the Jedi, and subsequently all of us, apart?'"

"Separatist scheme," Lux mumbled angrily as the courtroom dissolved from the image and an annalist appeared to give his take on the proceedings while the Jury deliberated. Lux muted the sound but left the image running so they could see when the trial would resume.

Soniee had completely forgotten that until very recently Lux and the rest of his planet were a part of the Confederation of Independent Systems.

"You've been careful to distance yourself from the CIS." She broached the subject carefully.

"Wanted to be as far away from them as possible after Dooku killed my mother." He growled. "And Ahsoka fought with us on Onderon to rid our planet of a Separatist tyrant. She'd never be involved in helping them."

"Does it bother you at all that Mandalore is a neutral system, that we don't want to take sides?" Soniee asked.

"No, I - not at all." Lux looked thoughtful for a moment. "The Duchess was one of the bravest people I've ever met. It can't have been easy to lead a people who have a long proud warrior past in peace for so many years."

"It wasn't easy for her." She nodded.

Lux smiled. "And I think you are brave for following in her footsteps."

"Well no, I'm not..." she hedged.

"I mean it," he continued. "I know you came to Coruscant to ask for military assistance but now that that isn't necessary, I think you'll do very well at continuing her cause of neutrality."

Soniee blushed. She was thankful that she no longer had the compulsion to be physically attracted to him. He could be charming enough on his own. She nodded thanks to his complement. "I still don't know that I'm cut out for politics."

He was about to say something else when the holo went back to trial coverage. He turned up the sound and a being from the Jury stepped forward, "The members of the court have reached a decision."

Mas Amedda handed a data pad to the Chancellor and Lux squeezed Soniee's hand almost painfully tight.

Palpatine began to read out the verdict, "Ahsoka Tano, by an overwhelming count of..."

He was interrupted by General Skywalker storming into the courtroom followed by several members of the Coruscant Guard, "Chancellor!"

Soniee actually felt a rush of pride when she saw the red and white armor. Fox wasn't among them with his distinctive black visor but they answered to _her_ _al'verde,_ she knew, and their presence with Skywalker could only mean something positive for Ahsoka. Her master must have found something in her favor.

Palpatine bristled "I hope you have a reason for bursting into our proceedings, Master Skywalker."

"I'm here with evidence and a confession from the person responsible for all the crimes Ahsoka has been accused of." He stepped aside and the guard troopers parted. "Barris Offee, member of the Jedi Order and traitor."

Soniee gasped, "No, it can't be." And then she was gripping Lux's hand.

Ahsoka was just as stunned. "Barris, is that true?"

Her master addressed the Mirialan, "Tell them the truth."

Barris stepped forward and as she spoke it all fit together in Soniee's mind. "I did it, because I've come to realize what many people in the Republic have come to realize, that the Jedi are the ones responsible for this war, that we've so lost our way that we've become villains in this conflict, that we are the ones that should be put on trial, all of us! And my attack on the Temple was an attack on what the Jedi have become, an army fighting for the dark side, fallen from the light that we once held so dear. This Republic is failing! It's only a matter of time."

"Take her away," the Chancellor drawled when she had finished her speech.

Lux shut off the holo but he didn't speak.

Soniee shook her head. "I should have seen it, should have felt it. We spoke about the Order, about the war and she told me not to go back to the hanger..."

She was startled, then, by the comm pinging in her buy'ce and her entire countenance changed. She looked up at Lux practically glowing. It was Korkie! She knew it had to be, even before she checked the ID. Lagos had said she was going to find him and make him send a comm. "I'm gonna take this outside. Will you be alright?"

"Ahsoka is cleared. I'm great!" He grinned at her.

"Okay, I'll see you." She stood and walked out into the hallway holding her helmet in front of her as if it were the most precious of treasures.

When Lux's door had shut behind her she put it on and nearly croaked, "Korkie?"

But it was not his voice that answered. "Soniee Ordo, what have you gotten yourself mixed up in?"

"Momma?" she answered, defeated, only then looking at the ID and seeing that the comm originated from Veeka's shop.

"I traced the ship you flew. Do you know who that kom'rk belonged to? It belonged to _Kyr'tsad_! Death Watch, Son'ika! Do you hear me?"

Soniee gave a weary sigh. "Yes, Buir, I hear you and... I know the ship once belonged to the Death Watch."

"You knew?" Veeka was frantic. "Did you steal it from the _shabuire_ or have you joined them?"

"Momma! I would never..." She swallowed and tried to collect herself and answer in a way that would make her mother understand without giving away Bo-Katan's secrets. "W-we had an ally in the battle of Sundari. She was once a part of Death Watch but left it before she joined with us. It was her ship and she asked me to fly it since I was familiar with the make and model."

"There's something else." Momma continued and Soniee could tell her mother was pacing now, not assured in the least by her daughter's explanation. "When you were a baby there were rumors that the Duchess was carrying a child... Pre Viszla's child... Now that child would be just about the age of your... There was always some question about her taking in that boy as her ward, even if she did call him nephew."

"Buir, Korkie is not and has never been a member of Death Watch and Pre Viszla is not his father."

"But how can you be sure, Son'ika?"

"Because..." She had promised never to tell a soul, but this was her mother, and Buir wouldn't stop digging until she found out the answer anyway. "His mother told him, and he told me, and that's when I knew it would be safe for me to tell him my secret. It's how I knew I could trust him and he could trust me." She mumbled. "If he does still trust me."

"Have you given him reason not to trust you?"

Soniee didn't know what to say.

"Son'ika, does this have something to do with that boy from Onderon?"

"Lux is a Senator, Momma." She sighed. "And no, he's just a friend." Thankfully she knew that to be true now. "You can't believe everything in those gossip holos."

"Is that what the Kryze boy believes?"

"No... not exactly."

"Soniee Ordo, what aren't you telling me?" Momma asked in that voice that brooked no argument.

"Korkie commed me but... someone else answered it."

"A male someone?"

"Yes, Momma."

"And why was a male someone answering your comm link?"

"Because I was asleep at the time?" And then she decided to just tell the rest it would be easier. "He's the Commander of the Coruscant Guard. He was... guarding me."

Momma sounded incredulous. "The commander of the guard has access to your personal comm link while you are sleeping?"

"He's also kind of in love with me and I have no idea what he said to Korkie but now I think Korkie doesn't want to speak to me and he may have left the safe house where he was staying and I'm so afraid that Almec or somebody is going to find him," she said all in one breath.

"Son'ika," Veeka tried to reason with her daughter. "You said Korkie asked you to marry him."

"He did."

"And what was your answer?" Momma asked.

"I sent him a comm to tell him yes but I don't think he ever got it."

"Does his hearing or not hearing the message change the fact that you said yes?"

"No, Buir, it doesn't."

"Where is he? You must have some idea if you know that he left the safe house where he was staying."

Soniee took a deep breath. "Lagos said something about a seamstress and I'm pretty sure she meant in... Keldabe."

" _Ner ad'ika_ , I will go and look for him but you have to be sure this is what you really want? If you are going to be distracted by the first man in armor who takes notice of you, you may need to re-think your priorities."

"Yes, Momma. I really just want to talk to Korkie and be sure."

"Alright, Son'ika. I'll send you a comm when I reach Manda'yaim."

"Thank you, Buir."

The whole conversation had taken place on the internal comm system of the buy'ce so no one could have heard even Soniee's side of it if they were passing by. She had been so involved in it that she didn't realize that someone had passed by or that he had stopped and was standing there quietly watching her.

"Kriff!" She gasped when she took off her helmet and saw the red and white armor but the pattern of the paint was different and he didn't have Fox's signature in the Force.

The clone laughed and pulled off his own helmet. "Sorry to startle you, Miss. The Commander asked me to come and escort you back to the Senator's."

"Lieutenant Acklay, isn't it?"

"That's right. You remembered."

"Well, I appreciate you letting me test out that bowcaster." She smiled weakly at him. "I didn't expect it to be so light. Thank you for warning me about the kickback."

He nodded and then pulled a small blaster out of one of his belt pouches and handed it to her. "Speaking of which, Commander wanted you to have this."

The elegant Westar fit comfortably in her hand. She checked the charge on the power cell and made sure the safety was on before she slipped it into the back of her own belt. "So I can shoot him in the _shebs_ for being such an over protective _di'kut_." Then she frowned and bit her lip. She had already injured him once in very nearly that spot.

Acklay grinned, "I'll let you two sort that out when he comes to check on you later. I'm just following orders." He set his helmet back in place. "Ready to go?"

"Lead on, Lieutenant."


	44. you've lost that lovin' feelin'

referencing Top Gun again

* * *

The door swished open. He had his hand raised to press the doorbell, and for a moment he was on high alert scanning around the apartment for danger. Then he saw Soniee sitting calmly on the couch with a datapad in her hands. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned on the doorjam, and said, "Hi honey, I'm home."

She couldn't help but smile. "You got that off of some corny old holo."

"Yeah." Fox stepped inside and the door swished shut behind him. He took off his helmet and grinned at her and then looked more serious. "Not that I mind getting you alone but I'm not sure about the lack of security."

"Padme hasn't made it back from the trial yet." She rose and set down the datapad, but picked up her helmet that had been sitting next to her and cradled it in her arms. "I could sense it was you coming and I didn't want you to have to face the wrath of the droids. I wouldn't have opened the door for anyone else."

His smile returned along with a hungry look in his eyes. He began to remove gloves and gauntlets and set them aside on an end table.

Soniee went to the kitchen area to put the counter-height island between them. She set down her helmet on the counter, got out a glass, some fruit juice, and carbonated water just to have something to do.

"So, you were right. Commander Tano was innocent of all of it."

She nodded. "Though, I'm still in shock about Barris."

Fox walked across the room and sat on a stool opposite her. "You knew Commander Offee?"

"Met her when I first arrived. She..." Soniee bit her lip. "She knew it was going to happen. She told me not to go back to the hanger, probably saved my life."

"But she killed a lot of other people," Fox snarled.

"Yes, I know. It's - it's inexcusable." She concentrated on pouring her drink for a moment and then looked up at him. "What will happen to her?"

"I think Palps has her locked up in a _secure location_ for now. Not sure what he's planning to do with her." It was clear that he thought Bariss deserved the full repercussion of her crimes but maybe he just didn't want to disturb Soniee with the vengeful description. Then the steel went out of his expression, he smiled, and he reached over to brush his knuckles over Soniee's cheek. He didn't seem to notice her flinch. "If she spared your life though, I'll be eternally grateful."

"Would you like me to make you a drink also?" she asked, her voice pitched a little higher than normal.

"Not alcoholic, I hope." He smirked. "I think you had enough of that last night."

She couldn't quite look him in the eye and focused on getting out another glass and filling it with juice and sparkling water. "I got the impression that you rather liked me h _aryc b'aalyc._ "

"Well," He reached out and took both of her hands away from what they were doing and held them. "Now I want you clear headed so you can think about what I said this morning."

"Fox, I - we need to talk."

"We are talking." He smiled.

"About last night." She took a shaky breath, waited a moment to see if he would interrupt but he didn't so she struggled to continue. "D-did you come into my bed?"

He squeezed her hands a little tighter and she wasn't sure if she sensed guilt from him or just the desire to repeat the event. "You were cold," he said quietly, "shivering, and you said, 'hold me'."

Soniee gave a brief nod, pressed her eyes shut and then confessed, "I didn't realize it was you. I thought I was dreaming about..."

"Korkie." he finished for her. His voice was flat but the emotions inside him were roiling.

She chanced a look into his eyes. "You spoke to him, didn't you? You answered his comm."

"I did." He looked down at their joined hands and brushed his thumb over her knuckles.

"What did he say?" she asked.

"He," Fox took a deep breath. "He said he wanted to talk to you. I told him you were asleep, had a hard night, needed your rest. Well he, he wasn't happy about that, asked if I was Bonteri. I told him who I was and that I would take care of you."

She slipped her hands out of his, laced her own fingers together and pressed them to her lips. Soniee was following what Korkie's train of thought would have been. It wasn't hard, she knew him so well. He would assume if she was sleeping and Fox had been _with_ her...

"I'm sorry, Soniee," said Fox sincerely. "I've hurt you."

"No, it's my fault. I should have been honest with you from the beginning. But..." Her eyes filled with tears. "I've been so afraid. I'm still afraid. If they knew that he and I... They know what I can do. If they captured him... If they tortured him... I would do anything to protect him. I killed three men to protect him, almost a fourth, and I would have finished that one off too if Bo hadn't done it first..." She was shaking, her hands now curled into fists. She remembered the fear and the anger and the power...

Fox jumped down from his stool, rounded the island, and wrapped his arms around her. "K'uur Son'ika, it's not your fault."

She clung to him. "Aren't you afraid that I'll hurt you again? And-and why are you still here? You should go. I can't promise you anything. I can't repeat those words you said to me. It's - it's cruel for me to keep you here."

He held her tight and kissed the top of her head. "I'm certainly not going to leave you like this. You were never really mine to lose, right? Just give me some occupation, Soniee, or I'll run mad."

Soniee swallowed and looked up at him through her tears. "I- I do have an opening for an _ori'vod_. I had a friend who was like a big brother to me and he - he died. I know no one could ever replace him, but..."

"Then _ori'vod_ I'll be." Fox had tears in his eyes too and he just kept holding her tight. "I did speak to the quarter master. Did I tell you?"

"You said that you meant to." She relaxed her head against his chest plate. The fear and anger were ebbing away. She felt safe in his arms. She could sense that he still would have liked for them to be more than just _vode_ , but he was trying for her sake.

"It still might take them a while but I'll keep at them. And I doubt it will be a fighter. How would you like a little freighter? You could modify it however you like and then you could fly anywhere you want to go. You could go back to Mandalore or see what Onderon is like, or..."

"Fox, thank you."

"Hey, uh..." He put his hands on her shoulders, held her out at arms length, and attempted a smile. "How 'bout we watch a holo or something until the Senator gets back?"

She nodded. "Okay." She tucked her helmet under her arm and then she picked up the two glasses of juice and headed toward the couch. "What do you want to watch?" She asked, calming down and warming to the idea of just hanging out.

Fox began to remove a few of his armored plates and set them in a neat pile by the side of the couch. "How about that one you mentioned before? Something about... 'take me to bed or lose me forever'?" He gave her a sheepish grin.

She blushed but she gave a shrug, "Alright, it's about military pilots so you'll probably like it."

They started out just sitting next to each other laughing. Soniee had forgotten how ridiculous the actual military and piloting parts of the story were handled in the script. Then she laid her head on his shoulder and finally snuggled closer to him when he put his arm around her. It was so comfortable that she began to doze off. She wasn't so far gone though that she didn't feel him stroking her hair or hear him singing softly along with the leading man on the holo.

"You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips, and there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips. You're trying hard not to show it, but baby, baby you know it..."

Soniee pretended to be asleep, letting him mourn something he could never have.

Half an hour later Padme arrived home and found them both sound asleep cuddled up on the couch with the holo still running. She didn't want to disturb them. She was too tired to answer questions or ask them, tonight. But her foot caught on one of Fox's armor plates as she walked across the dark room and the clatter woke them both.

Fox woke with part of the song he had been singing still in his mind, "Baby, baby, I'll get down on my knees for you."

Soniee tumbled off the couch giggling and blushed when she saw Padme. She stood quickly and shut off the holo. "Padme you're back. Are you alright? I saw the trial. Is Ahsoka okay?"

Fox stood up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

Padme looked curiously at the two of them before she answered. "I'm tired. It's been a long day. Ahsoka is fine or so I'm told."

"Did they ask her back to re-join the Order?" Soniee asked.

Padme, sad and exhausted, answered, "They did, but... she refused." Then softer she added, "Anakin is devastated."

"She refused?" Soniee patted Fox's hand on her shoulder for him to release her and then went to Padme. "Do you want us to leave so you..." she meant, _the two of you_. They hadn't discussed the kiss that Soniee had witnessed but she was sure the Senator would want to comfort the Jedi. "...can be alone?"

"No," Padme studied the younger girl while she answered as if she understood what was being offered. "Maybe some other time. Now I'd really just like to get some sleep."

"I'll just get out of your way then, Ladies." Fox gathered up the armor plates that had scattered over the floor from their neat stack. He gave the Senator a polite nod and then obviously wishing that he could give Soniee a different, more private, kind of good-bye or no good-bye at all, he said simply. "I'll let you know about the ship as soon as I hear something."

"Thanks, Fox."

He smiled, "Anything for you, _Vod'ika_." And made his exit.

Padme couldn't help but ask. "Do you mind if I ask what's been happening in my apartment while I was away?"

"Well," Soniee considered her response. "Nothing happened last night, something almost happened this morning, and I think we have an understanding now."

Padme raised an eyebrow.

"He's seeing about getting me a ship to replace the one that blew up in the Temple hanger, so I can get home to Korkie."

"Even though he obviously has feelings for you?"

"Y-yes." Soniee looked down at her hands and noticing that they were empty hurried to find her helmet again, picked it up, and hugged it like a child's favorite toy.

"Are you sure, you're alright?" Padme asked.

Soniee nodded. "I spoke to Lagos today. She knows where Korkie is. She said she would have him send me a comm." She held up the helmet.

"Ah." Padme nodded, understanding. "Well I don't envy the position you're in with your admirers but if you want to talk about it... tomorrow. I am simply too tired tonight."

"Alright. Thank you, Padme. Goodnight."

* * *

1\. Haryc b'aalyc - "tired and emotional", euphemism for "drunk"

2\. Fox has a lot better voice than Tom Cruse, and

3\. the line "give me some occupation or I shall run mad" is a variation on my favorite Colonel Brandon line from Sense and Sensibility. Love you, Always, Alan Rickman!


	45. iron skin

iron skin is the Basic translation of beskar'gam. Korkie is not quite used to his yet. this is actually the first part of a longer chapter but the second half is taking me a while to figure out so I wanted to go ahead and post this while i continue to wrestle with some new characters that i want to introduce.  
this will make a lot more sense if you've read "The Duchess Diaries" chapter called "Old friends".

* * *

 _Resol'nare_ be damned! He didn't care if the core tenants of the old Mandalorians said he had to wear the armor. The stuff was kriffing uncomfortable. The only good point he could see in it at the moment was that it allowed him to get out of Gran's house with no one recognizing him.

Of course the helmet he had on didn't match the sparkling new, barely dry paint job on his beskar'gam. He had just grabbed nearest one off of a shelf in Gran's shop as he made his way out. That and a handful of credit chips from the register. He wasn't proud of that, but he promised himself that he'd pay Gran back as soon as he got the chance.

Now Korkie was wondering the streets of Keldabe, thinking. He oriented himself to the tower of the MandalMotors corporation that could be seen from all over the city and was sure he'd be able to find his way back to the seamstress/armorer's shop when he felt like he wanted to return. But even that reminded him of Soniee. Hadn't that been the company her Momma worked for?

Of course if he'd had his proper helmet he would have been able to use the navigation systems that were pre-loaded onto it. If he could figure out how to use them. The Heads Up Display (HUD Bo called it) was confusing and besides that Korkie couldn't bear to put the thing back on. He knew he'd keep hearing the echo of that Commander Fox's voice saying that he would _take care_ of Soniee.

The helmet he was wearing had no electronics in it at all. It was merely the bare bones, showroom model that Gran used to demonstrate the style to her customers. Well, it suited Korkie's needs just fine. No one would know that it concealed the Duchess's ward and possible heir.

He did have one electronic device with him, Soniee's holo-notebook that he had rescued from the Academy's destruction. He hugged the notebook to his chest plates. He wasn't sure why he had grabbed it on the way out of the shop. Maybe he could find some place quiet to sit and scroll though holos.

When he happened upon the park, there was something vaguely familiar about it. No children were playing on the swings now in the early hours of morning. With a clattering of armor he sat down and opened the notebook. He scrolled through until he located the old holos of his mother. And there, that's why the park had looked familiar. His mother had walked here with Pre-Viszla once. The young cloaked girl was sat on one of these very swings and the handsome cadet knelt down to speak to her.

Korkie wondered if she knew then that she was pregnant with Obi-wan Kenobi's child. And again he thought about Soniee. Was it possible that she was just play acting like his mother had been? Was she just protecting him like Satine had sought to protect her lover and her child? That did sound like something Soniee would do.

He smiled, calmer now with the idea taking shape in his mind. He typed in a search on the notebook for the Prince of Alderaan, the play they had performed together. Surely she had saved the recording on the notebook. But the play is not what came up in his search. There was a link on the net to a piece of recent news. He didn't notice that the news source was a gossip network.

The headline read, "Real Life Princess of Onderon?" The images were of Soniee in the Senate Rotunda with Senator Lux Bonteri at her side. The rather outlandish story was that the two of them had gone to a party together, that Bonteri had tried to kiss her, and that Soniee had refused so violently that he had ended up in a med center.

Well isn't that what the clone had said, that Bonteri was in the med center? And then there were a series of images from the med center lobby. A girl in a Mandalorian helmet, painted green and white with the Clan Ordo _aliik_ on the forehead, entered accompanied by a clone in red, black, and white armor. As he led her to the information desk, Korkie saw the gloved hand alight on the girl's lower back. She didn't push him away and for some reason the action seemed so _familiar_ , as if he was used to touching her, as if she was perfectly comfortable with his touch.

Korkie slammed the notebook shut, rose from the swing, and started marching angrily away from the park. So what if she was trying to protect him. That didn't mean he had to like her methods. Jealously burned in him as he strode down the city streets and, without trying to, ended up facing a sprawling establishment with a sign hanging above the door that read, "Oyu'baat" and underneath that "Universe".

If she could drown her sorrows in drink, so could he, and what better place to do it than the planet's oldest cantina.


	46. Ouy'baat

reconciling my love of all things Obitine and Sundari and New Mandalore with the awesomeness that is Republic Commandos. we're all on the same side right? the enemy of my enemy is my friend.  
so here we go. Fenn Shysa is looking for an heir he finds one he's not expecting.

* * *

Fenn Shysa was nursing an ale with his feet resting on a chair. He didn't care how early it was in the morning. The Oyu'baat was always open so he figured he could have a drink any time he wanted.

The other man sitting across the table from him still had his buy'ce firmly in place. He could have been dozing, or having a stimulating conversation on the helmet's internal comm system, or just sneering at Shysa's drinking habits. He must however have noticed Shysa's amused expression because he turned to see who had entered the cantina.

"Shab, who's the shiny?" Fenn's comrade asked in a low voice.

They both watched as the newcomer walked, almost bowlegged as if he was uncomfortable with the leg plates of his newly painted armor rubbing against each other, up to the bar and sat on a stool. He carefully set the notebook he was carrying on the bar and then asked in a posh accent, "Can I have an ale, please?"

"Polite, isn't he?" Shysa grinned and the other man laughed.

The bartender set a mug in front of the young man but he stared at it for a full minute before hesitantly reaching up to remove his buy'ce and set it on top of the notebook. The young man's ginger/blond hair looked as if it had once been carefully styled in the angular fashion favored by the New Mandalorians, though it had now grown out a bit and was tousled from wearing the helmet. His blue eyes were sad and there was a few days growth of reddish fuzz on his cheeks and chin and upper lip but Fenn knew him at once from the wanted holos, one of which was hanging on the wall partially covered by a row of bottles behind the bar.

The barkeep may have noticed also but he didn't show any sign. He was tapping on the panel that controlled the large holoscreen. He was running through the networks perhaps looking for the latest Meshgeroya scores but the young man stopped him.

"Could you please go back to that - that program you just passed?"

"Alright. This the one?" the barkeep asked, humoring him.

"Yeah, yeah that's it."

There was a girl in the image. She had a green and white buy'ce clipped to the back of her belt and a Westar pistol tucked in next to it and she was following a clone soldier out of a lobby toward a transport of some kind.

"That's a different clone than the one she was with before. His armor is different." This point seemed to make a great deal of difference to the young man.

"Pretty little thing," Fenn commented.

"Yes, she is." The young man agreed, staring at the screen.

The program continued: an interview segment with a witness from the medcenter. The receptionist was eager to tell the reporter all about what she had seen and heard.

"Well I knew that we had Lux." She said the name dreamily as if he were a holo star rather than a Senator. "Up in the head trauma ward, because my friend Shay, she works the night shift. She saw him come in. And she told me this crazy story that Lux had tried to kiss Soniee and she pushed him away. Well, I told Shay, that's just how the Mando's do it. You see a guy you like and you headbutt him and drag him back to your den or whatever."

"Yeah," said the other man at Fenn's table. "Happens to me all the time."

They laughed but the young man at the bar hushed them, wanting to hear the story.

"...so when this girl comes in wearing a Mando helmet and the Commander says it's Representative Ordo here to see Senator Bonteri, I knew she just had to be feeling awful about the whole culture clash thing and not knowing how dating went on their home world..."

"Commander..." the young man growled and Fenn was surprised at the anger that one word carried.

The receptionist continued her tale, "...so I told her, I said, 'don't worry, Hun. I'm sure Lux'll be thrilled to see you.' And she said, it was so precious, she said, 'I hope so.'"

"Precious..." the barkeep lost interest and returned to wiping out mugs.

The young man gave him a look and then focused his attention on the screen again.

"...so then I just couldn't stop myself, I had to ask if it was true that she and Lux were really related and she got kind of huffy with me. She said, 'you know more about it than I do.' like she knows they are but she didn't want anybody to bug her about the incest thing. Anyway, I think people should just mind their own business. Who cares if they're brother and sister. If they love each other, good for them."

"You should mind yours." The young man huffed and took a swig of his ale. He made a face and then determinedly finished off the rest of the mug and slammed it back down on the bar. "Another, please."

Fenn rose from his seat and went up to the bar. "This one's on me."

"Thanks." The young man looked at him, rather startled, and then his gaze drifted to the screen again.

"May I hazard a guess that the fair Miss Ordo is the reason behind this early morning binge?"

"She might be."

"Or maybe just the young lady's association with the Ondronian Senator?" Fenn asked.

"Nah, not him." The Kryze boy, as Fenn suspected him to be, took a gulp from his second mug and pointed at the screen. "Him."

Fenn looked where he was pointing and saw the image of the girl being led around the lobby of the med center a different armored clone. Then he thought he might understand what the boy meant. The clone slipped his arm around the girl's waist.

"Osik, turn it off!"

The barkeep shrugged and shut off the screen and then brought Fenn another drink.

"What's your name, ad'ika?"

"I'm not a child!"

"Sorry, vod. Of course you're not. Forgive me." Fenn held up his hands in surrender.

"Yeah, well. It's..." he thought about it and maybe he noticed his own picture on the wall. "It's Dar... _Dar'baatir_."

Because he didn't care anymore or because he didn't want to, Fenn nodded. "Well Dar'baatir, my name's Fenn Shysa. Pleasure to meet you." He offered the young man his hand.

Dar looked at the hand and then reached out his own and shook it.

"D'ya ever think that maybe the commander's just doin' his job?"

"No. I spoke to him. He as much as said that he was sleeping with her."

"He said that, did he?" Fenn took a swig of his own drink. "You don't think he could have been exaggerating, trying to get a rise out of ye?"

"I - I don't know." said Dar/Korkie.

Fenn was sure now of the kid's identity and it made sense that both he and the girl had attended the Academy before its unfortunate demise. "But you know the girl?"

" _Ni kar'tayl kaysh_." He pronounced the words as if they were foreign. Sad really, thought Fenn. Nice kid, born and raised on _Manda'yaim_ , and he didn't even know his own language.

"Ought to send her a comm. Tell her how you feel." Fenn suggested.

Korkie shook his head. "Can't do that." He took another drink and Fenn could tell that the first one was already starting to do it's work. "Don't have her ID and the bucket's just a bucket." He flipped the helmet over to show the older man that the inside was empty of anything useful.

"Have you got a plan to win her back?"

"How'm I supposed to do that?"

"Maybe ye need a _Cin vhetin_?"

"What's that?" the boy asked.

"It means, white field, but it's like a clean slate, a fresh start."

Korkie nodded.

"She likes a man in armor, but it seems you've got that covered."

"Yeah." Korkie looked down at the plates covering his body and gave a little grin. "Yeah, covered."

Shysa had had no patience for the New Mandalorians' pacifism but he shared their dislike of the Death Watch, and he didn't trust Almec in the least. Maybe he was going soft, maybe he just felt sorry for the kid, but they did have a common enemy. He'd set out to find a Fett clone to dress up as Jango's heir to take the mantle of Mand'alor but perhaps the Duchess's heir could be of some use as well. He watched the boy take slow sips of his drink. "Not just the girl is it. You've been through the ringer, haven't ye, Dar m'lad?"

Korkie sniffed, "Yeah. First my friend Amis was killed and then Mom and then Soniee flew away and then the Academy shot to Haran."

The word 'mom' made Shysa raise an eyebrow. That was always the rumor but hearing it from the kid's own mouth was a revelation. He wondered if Satine had also mentioned to the boy who his father was and he asked the question carefully, "But yur, Buir's still around, right? Perhaps ye can talk to him about the girl. Sure an' he's missin' yur mother as well?"

"Never met him." Korkie said after another gulp of his ale. "Soniee said he missed her though. She flew him to..." His eyes grew wide as if he just realized he'd said to much. He drowned the rest of the sentence in another swig of the drink.

So his dad wasn't Viszla, or at least Satine had pinned the blame on somebody else and fed that line to her son.

"Not easy growing up without a buir, specially for a Mando'ad. What kind of training did ye get up at the academy?" He wasn't expecting much and he wasn't offering himself up as segregate buir but with Almec on his tail, the kid was going to need every advantage he could get.

"We had basic weapons training, blasters, fencing, and a bit of hand to hand defense, but we were mostly instructed in negotiation and diplomatic resolutions." Even half drunk the kid was a politician.

"Dar'ika, you need a crash course in the real galaxy." Fenn tipped up his mug and found it disappointingly empty.

"Will it help me get Soniee back and protect her?" he asked suddenly. "Could you teach me?" He looked back down at his mug. "and my name's not really Dar. It - It's Korkie."

"Is it now?" Fenn sighed, shook his head, and then resigned himself to his own weakness. "I suppose you could tag along when I head up north to Enceri. Maybe you could learn a thing or two."

"Y-yeah?" Korkie answered excitedly. "Anything's gotta be better than hanging around that shop."

"Finish yer drink, get some food in ye, and then we'll see what's to be done, Kor'ika." What had he gotten himself into? Shysa patted the kid on the back and motioned to the barkeep to feed him. Then he walked back to his old table.

His comrade shook his head and laughed. "You gonna start picking up strays like, Skirata?"

"Let's hope I never get that bad, Spar. Couldn't bear to see the look on the old man's face."


	47. a sunny day in Galactic City

three friends out enjoying the weather. Making light of the tabloid press. Soniee tries to forget her worries, Lux tries to help, and Fox is Fox, bless him.

* * *

"So," Lux shook out the holozine he was holding dramatically. It was an infamously bad tabloid that they had all got a good laugh out of on multiple occasions and since Lux himself had made the cover of this issue, he wanted to keep up with his press following. "Would you like the good news or the bad news first?"

"Oh, I think I can take it on a day like this. Give us the bad news." Soniee was lying on her back on the blanket which had recently held their picnic lunch. With Lux sitting next to her on one side and Fox standing on the other keeping guard, and her arm wrapped around her buy'ce to keep it close in case she got a comm, she was feeling rather content.

She couldn't be completely content, as days stretched into a week and then two and now nearly three since anyone back home had heard from Korkie. She worried about him constantly, both his safety and if he still felt the same way about her that he had when he proposed. She hesitated to reach out to him in the Force, still worried that any contact might be sensed by the enemy who had already used her to hurt both of the young men with her now, who miraculously had forgiven her for their injuries and still counted her as a friend.

She had tried to settle into senatorial duties and studying for her exams and making appearances as a small time celebrity. Today however there were no senate sessions and the sun was shining down on Galactic City and Fox had managed to get the day off and a selection of some of her favorites from Dax's Dinner, and the three of them could just hang out like regular teen-agers with the occasional annoying buzz of the holocams that seemed to follow she and Lux wherever they went.

"Yes, the bad news..." Lux flipped a couple of pages. "Ah, here it is. I am afraid, my love," He gave her a heartbroken frown. "That your adopted mother and the Prime Minister have arranged with your guardian, the honorable Senator from Naboo, to retain our chaperon indefinitely so that we shall never have a moment alone to consummate our secret elopement."

Soniee giggled and then put on a simpering breathless soprano, "How shall I live with the disappointment?"

"Best news I've heard all day," said Fox dryly.

"You would think so." She grinned and threw a flower at him that she had been twirling between her fingers. It didn't make a very good projectile and simply floated down toward the ground half way between them. He bent down, grabbed it out of the air before it landed, and tucked it into his belt.

Lux looked back and forth between them and then cleared his throat. "On to the good news then?"

"Yes, please, Darling." Soniee returned her focus to him.

"You will be thrilled to learn that our DNA tests came back and while we may be distant cousins we are not closely enough related to worry about the effect it will have on the genetic makeup of our future children."

"Oh that's marvelous news," she trilled. "We could get started on that right away if we weren't stuck with our constant supervision."

"Indefinitely." Fox said with a satisfied chuckle, but then he went silent and Soniee could tell from his posture that he was getting some kind of communication that neither she nor Lux could hear. She watched him, waiting for him to tell them what it was all about or that it was nothing. "Shab." He said after a while, switching back to his buy'ce's external voice system. "I have to go check something out. I'm sorry, Soniee. Shouldn't take more than an hour or so."

She frowned but she said, "That's alright. I don't think Lux was planning on ravaging me in front of all the families and children here in the park."

"I'd hardly have time to do it properly in an hour anyway." Lux added helpfully and Soniee swatted him.

Fox sighed. "Then I'll see you both in about an hour." He gave Lux a friendly nod and then his T shaped visor lingered on Soniee for a moment longer before he turned to go.

She was blushing slightly as she sat up and poked around in the sack of take-out to see if there was anything left to munch on. She could feel Lux watching her curiously so she attempted to jump back into the previous discussion. "Not a bad idea getting my DNA tested if I really wanted to find out who my birth parents were..."

Lux wasn't going to let her off that easily. "What's going on between you and the Commander?"

"Nothing at all." She insisted. "Fox and I are friends, just like you and I are friends."

"Oh come on! Spare me!" Lux flopped back to lay down on the blanket next to her. "The tension between you two makes me feel like I'm the chaperon."

"Really, it's nothing," she said again but she couldn't look him in the eye and kept rummaging idly for a snack.

"Hmm. It might be nothing to you but Fox is obviously crazy about you."

"I - I may have noticed something," she began awkwardly. "But I..."

"Look, Soniee." Lux sat up and put a hand on her shoulder. The holocams buzzed a little closer in excitement. "I think I know what this is about. I felt the same way after Steela died. I thought I might be disgracing her memory by acting on feelings for someone else. I..." he swallowed. "I left it too long and now I wish I had said something to Ahsoka sooner."

They hadn't heard from Ahsoka since she'd made the decision not to rejoin the Jedi order. Soniee was sure that the ex-padawan just wanted some time to get away and think but surely now that she was free of the Order's ban on attachment she would come back and catch up with old friends.

"What I'm saying, Soniee, is... Amis wouldn't want you to dwell on the past. I'm sure he would want you to move on and live your life."

"I don't know if I can..." she started but she really didn't know what to say.

"If it's... If you're worried what people will say about you dating a clone, I don't mind keeping up the pretense. You and I could pretend to go somewhere private and then I could slip away and let the two of you be alone."

"No." she said immediately. "That - that won't be necessary."

"Well I suppose he is the one who brings you home to Padme's after you and I go out anyway. No one has bothered to ask how long he stays." Lux smirked.

Soniee blushed. "Fox and I... We're not..." she tried again.

"I just..." Lux stopped her. "I don't want you to regret not going for something that could make you happy, like - like I regret not pursuing something with Ahsoka."

"You do?" she asked.

He nodded. "Every day."

"I - I'll think about it but I just... I still don't think I'm ready." _I'm not ready to give up on Korkie_ , she thought.


	48. Orders

this chapter takes place during the Lost Missions episodes 'Orders' and 'An Old Friend'. Not Fox's best moment. I noticed re-watching Five's death that Fox is not among the Guards who circle around because they all have white helmets. So where did Fox go?

* * *

Rex and the General were caught behind the ray shield, ARC trooper Fives was going for a weapon, and Fox did what he was trained to do. He leveled his blaster and fired.

He watched as the man, his brother, fell. Someone shot out the ray shield. Rex dropped, calling for a medic, to the dying ARC's side. With his extraordinary hearing, improved by the buy'ce's sensors he heard Fives' words, "I was only doing my duty..."

The blaster fell from Fox's grasp. He looked down at his hands and the red gauntlets looked like they were covered in blood. He ripped them off along with his gloves. He didn't join the rest of his company who circled the dead man, the Captain, and the General. Instead he ran. He had never run away from anything in his life, but now he couldn't get away fast enough.

He found the speeder bike that Fives had used to get to the warehouse, he wouldn't be needing it anymore, hopped on, and took off with no special destination in mind. But no, he did have somewhere to go, someone to turn to.

Fox activated the comm, "Soniee?" His voice sounded young and scared in his own ears. He could only imagine what she sensed about him through the Force.

"Fox, are you all right? Where are you?" Her voice was like an instant balm.

"On a bike, headed your way. I - I need to see you, talk to you. I - I killed a brother..."

"Don't bother about going through the building. I'll be on the balcony. Padme is on Scipio. You don't have to worry. I'm here."

"A-alright." He deactivated the comm so he could concentrate on flying. He couldn't get the image out of his head, that glowing hole in the plastoid chest plate and the look on Five's face. What had he done? He was only doing his duty, right? The ARC had gone crazy, attacked the Chancellor, at least, that's what they were told...

As he got closer to the Senate apartment complex he could see the lone figure standing on the penthouse balcony. She was wearing sleep pants and a tunic with a belt to which her ever present buy'ce was clipped on. Her hair was down and blowing slightly in the breeze and her arms were wrapped around herself as if she were cold. In short she looked beautiful, like an angel of mercy.

When he brought the bike alongside the balcony and jumped off, she opened her arms to accept him. He almost tripped in his hurry to reach her, tearing off his helmet and belt and kama as he went.

She didn't ask questions, she just returned his hug as fiercely as he hugged her.

"I killed him." He confessed. "He had attacked the Chancellor. We were ordered to catch him. He went for a weapon..." He buried his face against the side of her neck where it met her shoulder. She smelled amazing and her hair was slightly damp. He ran his fingers through the chestnut strands.

"You're a good soldier, Fox. You were following orders." She held him tight, full of compassion. "And I know... how you feel... how I felt after I killed those men. You just want to feel alive."

He could feel the pulse point in her throat and pressed his lips to the spot. He opened his mouth to lick the delicate skin there and nip and suck. He wanted to leave a mark.

She gasped but she didn't pull away. "You want to feel that there's still good in you." She continued. "You want to feel loved..." She wasn't just remembering, the was empathizing with him here and now, feeling what he was feeling.

He wove his fingers into the tresses behind her ear and tilted her head back, kissing her fully on the mouth. "I need you, Soniee," he whispered.

"I know." It wasn't the overwhelming exclamation of mutual desire that he would have liked but it was a consent of sorts and he would show her. He would make love to her like no one ever had. He would make her forget that she had ever had another lover.

Fox lifted her into his arms and began to carry her through the apartment. The droids were nowhere to be seen. She must have dismissed them to some out of the way corner when she heard he was coming so they wouldn't be disturbed.

He wondered why after all this time of keeping him at arms length she was suddenly so accommodating. Perhaps she had taken to heart what he had overheard Bonteri advise her about getting on with her life with someone who was obviously crazy about her. Maybe it was just what the moment required: he was a friend in need of something that she could provide. He hated to think that it could possibly be pity. Part of him didn't care what the reason was. He was so in love with her and so thankful to have the opportunity to show her exactly how much.

He carried her over the threshold into her bedroom and she waved her hand at the door, closing and locking it behind them. Then he set her down on her feet and the helmet clipped to her belt swung around and bumped his hip. She hadn't let the thing out of her reach since her friend had promised to force the _di'kut_ send her a comm.

It made Fox angry. "If you were mine I'd never make you wait weeks on end for a comm." He removed her belt and tossed it with the helmet still attached so that it went skidding across the floor.

"Oh Fox..." She crooned and wrapped her arms around his neck but he couldn't quite read the look in her eyes that were shining with what might have been tears.

He kissed her, trying to put everything that he felt for her into the action. He groaned when she stood up on her tiptoes in an effort to draw closer to him. He slipped his hands under her tunic, exploring her waist, her ribs, her back, and crushing her body closer to his own.

She moaned against his lips.

"If you were mine, I would treat you like a queen." He lifted her tunic off over her head and just stood and gazed at her for a moment. Then he carefully backed her up to the bed and sat her on the edge of it. Never taking his eyes off her, he removed the rest of his armor and quickly pulled off the shirt portion of his black body glove.

She looked him over, biting her lip, and he wasn't sure if she was nervous or excited or afraid. She laid back, staring at the ceiling, waiting.

He wanted to say something to reassure her. He wanted to stand there gazing at the beautiful picture she made, lying there. He wanted to forget all pretense and kriff her till they both forgot their own names. He settled on revealing more of her body to his hungry gaze. Kneeling next to the bed he placed his hands on her knees and ran them up to the waistband of her pants. He began to peel them down and she obliged by lifting her hips. He drew them off completely and sucked in a breath at the sight of her shapely legs and feet.

Who knew that feet could be so small and lovely and perfect? Of course he had seen her bare feet before, padding around the apartment, but never had he taken the taken the opportunity to appreciate how exquisitely they transitioned from toes to arches to heals to ankles to calves... He took one perfect foot between his hands and placed his lips at the little hollow just below the inside of her ankle.

She gave a little cry, "Fox!"

And he looked up, alarmed that he had done something wrong, that he had hurt her. What he saw were her eyes wide, and her mouth curling into a shy smile. She seemed as surprised and pleased as he was that he had stumbled on such an unexpected erogenous zone.

There was also the fact that she had called out _his_ name and not anyone else's. She wasn't dreaming now and she was smiling. Leaving her feet for later he couldn't help but creep up over her to claim that smile with his mouth. He kissed her deeply and sank till his own chest pressed flush against hers, skin to skin for the first time. She arched to meet him and he slipped an arm under her back as her arms wrapped around him.

"Cyar'ika, ner ka'rta, ner runi!" _Beloved, my heart, my soul!_ He breathed. "Be mine, Soniee. Please say you'll be..."

She froze and again he was afraid that he had held her too tight or said the wrong thing. Then he heard it too, the soft ping of the comm from her helmet across the room.

"Don't!" He whispered urgently even as she was removing her arms from around him. "Don't get it! Stay here with me!"

She turned her face away from his attempt at another kiss. "I have to. I have to know..."

He didn't make it easy for her to clamber out from under him. As soon as she'd managed it, he slammed his fist down on the mattress and cursed.

"I'm sorry, Fox. I just have to know." She didn't look at him but he watched her.

Kriff she was beautiful in nothing but her panties. She grabbed a blanket that was folded at the foot of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. And she had almost been his... Then she picked up her buy'ce, with the belt it was still clipped to, and put it on...


	49. here for you

I think it's fair to say that the Force is still messing with Soniee's love life even though the Sith Lord is currently gloating about his inhibitor chips and not paying a bit of attention to what his little pet project is getting up to with Commander Fox.

* * *

 _Maybe she should have been relieved that he hadn't been able to come back to meet them at the park. It would have been awkward to see him there with Lux after those things Lux had said. She'd had plenty of time to think about Lux's advice while she'd sat alone in the apartment. And then when he commed her and said he'd killed a vod, she knew what he'd want, what he would need. She wanted to give him what he needed but she didn't want to hurt him again, so while she waited for him she did her best to distance herself from the force. Her feelings were always so intense and confused when she was with him. Maybe if she could meet him with a clear head, she could make sense of it all..._

Soniee took off her helmet. "It wasn't him."

Fox who had been sitting on the bed, face hidden in his hands, tormented by the fact that she had left him there, stood up went to her. He knelt beside her, hope alight in his eyes again.

"It was Lagos. She's just confirmed that... she's pregnant."

"Kandosii that's wonderful!"

"Yeah it was a good thing she commed when she did..."

"A playmate that can grow up with..."

"I didn't plan anything to prevent..."

"...our little one."

They both paused trying to digest what the other had just said.

"Are you saying that you want..."

"You mean you don't want..."

Soniee stood, pulling the blanket closer around her shoulders and shaking her head. She took a step away from him. "I'm not ready to be a buir."

"But you'd be a great mother."

"Maybe someday, but not now. Anyway, Lagos is all alone. Amis was the father. I-I think... I think I should go back, be there with her. She's like my sister."

Fox stood and touched her shoulder tenderly. "You don't have to go right away. If you're not ready for _ad'ike_... I can get the hypo first thing tomorrow. Then I'll be shooting blanks for three months and we'll have nothing to worry about. That'll be good, right? We can get to know each other before I have a little one to share you with. And... There are other things we can do tonight..."

She shivered and pulled away from his touch, beginning to look around for her discarded pajamas.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Soniee, someday I would love to see a _verd'ika_ with your DNA and mine mingled together, a child nurtured in your body rather than in a vat in a cold sterile lab on Kamino..."

She pulled on her pants and was reaching for her shirt as he came up behind her.

Then as she pulled the tunic over her head it dawned on her like a bolt of lightning. "Fox, you love me." She spun around and looked at him.

"I would have thought that was obvious by now." He grinned, taking her in his arms.

"No, I mean _you_ love ME," she varied her emphasis on the words as if that would make it clear and then with a smile on her face at her own revelation she said, "I don't love you."

Realizing her mistake, she stepped away from him and covered her mouth with her hands, " _Manda_ , Fox, I'm so sorry. I - I've been so mixed up. Whenever I'm with you, your love is so intense in the Force, I felt like... it was my feelings for you but... you're the one who loves me."

"And I always will, Soniee, _darasuum_!" He reached for her.

She caught his hands with hers before his arms could circle her again. "Fox, I love Korkie. I know that now. And the reason I thought I was with him is because he loves me too, with that same intensity in the Force that I feel from you. _Manda_ , I'm so sorry." She turned away from him, her mind just beginning to untangle his feelings of passion and heartbreak from her own feelings of discovery and regret.

"But," he raked his hands through his hair. "What if his feelings have changed? He hasn't contacted you in almost a month. I'm here now and... I love you. I want you to be my wife. And you said it yourself. You felt like my feelings were your own. Can't that be enough for now?" He clutched at her shoulders, not tight enough to hurt her, he was still unerringly gentle, but as if he was holding on for dear life.

"Fox, if his feelings have changed, then I need to find him. I need to convince him to forgive me and take me back because I love him and that will never change."

He took a deep breath and then turned, "Alright, then." He tried the door and cursed when he found it was locked.

She waved her hand to unlock it but then hurried after him, "Fox, wait!" No matter what, she didn't want him to be alone tonight after the tragic death of his brother.

But he didn't get onto the bike. He bent down to his discarded belt and drew something out of one of the pockets. She saw the flower she had given him also tumble out onto the ground. Then he stood and held a small holoprojector out towards her. "You'll be wanting this."

He activated it and the image that materialized was of a small ship. "It's a B-7 light freighter. It'll carry eight passengers and a ton of cargo but it only needs one pilot and... it's yours. It's not brand new. I think they took it off a Sep smuggler and the weapons systems have been neutralized so you'll need to..."

She laid her hand on his arm. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Fox."

"I've known about it for a few days," he admitted. "I...I hoped maybe it could be a wedding present, but if... you're certain, then... I just want you to be happy."

"Oh, Fox..." She stood up on her toes and hugged him.

He hugged her back tightly and she felt the dampness of his tears on her shoulder. "If he ever hurts you, I'll kill him."

She had no doubt that he would.


	50. homeward bound

With her own ship and nothing holding her on Coruscant, Soniee is finally heading back to the Mandalore system. She's not quite sure what home is anymore but at least she'll be able to see Momma and Lagos and maybe somebody else will be eager to see her too...

* * *

Guilt gnawed at her every time he gave her that sad smile but having Fox here helping her pack was better than the fear she had felt when she stepped out of her bedroom after changing into something more appropriate and he'd been gone.

"Fox, where are you?" Soniee commed.

He chuckled through her helmet's speakers. "Getting your ship of course. Wake up the droid and get all those pretty clothes ready to go. Lagos needs her sister around right?"

"Y-yeah."

1K0 could not have been more pleased that her mistress was headed back to Mandalore. They worked quickly to put all the clothes back into the crates that they had come in when Almec had given them to her.

And then Soniee had heard the sound of a ship coming to dock at the balcony and she ran out to see. It was a magical experience to see the freighter, her ship, hovering there.

Fox stepped down off the ramp and spread his arms triumphantly. "So what do you think?"

She was speechless. He reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled her aboard. The speeder bike he'd flown to the hanger was in the cargo hold.

"I'll back that out and we can start bringing your stuff in."

Soniee squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Fox."

He led her through the narrow corridor with a cabin on each side. When she looked into one of them and he touched her shoulder innocently she got a flash of a vision from his mind. Fox had imagined the two of them together on that bunk. She blushed and backed out of the cabin.

"It's nice."

"I hoped you would like it." He lowered his gaze as if he knew he'd been caught. "The cockpit is up this way."

Now this felt like home. She sat down in the pilot's seat and couldn't believe it was hers.

"You look like you belong there."

She smiled and then leaned forward to study the controls. There was a separate gunner's station but she could manage by herself if necessary. "Did you say the weapons had been neutralized?"

"That's what they said at the hanger."

She frowned and bent to look under the control panel. "Ah! Thought so, just deactivated." She flipped a few switches and then sat up again and watched smiling as more lights blinked to life. "Only a single laser canon but Momma will feel better about me flying it if I have some way to protect myself."

"So will I." He cleared his throat. "The shields are pretty decent though."

"Yeah, and Momma and I can always add to the weapons array."

"You like it then?" he asked.

"It's the most amazing gift I've ever received." She answered quietly.

"Well it wasn't really a gift. It's just a replacement for the one you lost in the bombing."

She looked up at him sincerely. "But I wouldn't have even thought to ask about getting a replacement and I surely wouldn't have gotten it so quickly."

He nodded. "We should get your things aboard so you can be on your way." There was more he wanted to say and she could sense that in the close quarters of the cockpit there was more he wished to express without words.

Neither of them spoke much while they loaded the trunks of clothes into the cargo hold. Soniee kept a few things out that she arranged in her cabin, but she didn't have much else to pack. She hadn't arrived on Coruscant with much. She had her helmet that she was still keeping close to her at all times. It had become a habit more than anything. And there was her display visor which was kind of redundant now but she was still sentimental about it.

She wondered what had become of the notebook she had left behind at the academy. More than likely it had been destroyed along with everything else. It seemed strange to be headed back to _Manda'yaim_ but not back to the Academy. It had been her home for almost half her life. Momma had made contact with Bo-Katan so she knew where she was going in Keldabe but it wasn't home.

1K0 bustled around as cheerful as Soniee had ever seen the droid.

"Glad somebody's happy about you leaving," Fox grumbled standing at the bottom of the ramp. "But I - I guess that's about everything."

"Yeah." Soniee sighed. Now that it came down to it she didn't know how to say goodbye. It was goodbye, though. She knew it would be wrong to leave him with any hope. "Please tell Lux and Padme I'm sorry I didn't say... anything before I left."

"I will." He nodded. "And, uh, comm me when you get into Mandalore space so I know you're safe."

She also nodded. "Alright." She would send him a text. She couldn't think of seeing him again in a holo but even so she gave him the traditional Mandalorian goodbye that literally meant, _Maybe we'll see each other again_. " _Ret'urcye mhi, ner al'verde."_

 _"Ret'urcye mhi, Son'ika."_ His eyes lingered on her lips for a long moment and then dropped to her neck and he actually smiled. She was sure he was going to try to kiss her once more but instead he just reached out a hand and touched the point where her pulse was hammering in her throat. It wasn't until later when she was sitting in the cockpit with 1K0 that she realized what he'd been smiling about.

"You're going to want to cover that with some make-up before we see your friends," the droid observed.

Soniee put her hand to her throat where Fox had touched her and then looked at her reflection in the dark viewscreen. The lovebite he'd given her when he had arrived on the balcony that evening was dark and very obvious just above her collar. "Osik, you're right. Maybe when we're in hyperspace you can help me with that."

She had reached orbit above Coruscant and was keying in the coordinates for the first hyperjump, when the comm in her helmet chimed. She didn't even look at the ID, certain who it must be.

"Hey Lagos, I'm on my way. Got a ship. Just about to activate the first jump..."

"Soniee?"

She stopped dead. It wasn't Lagos. "Korkie... is it really you?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

She couldn't believe it. It was him. It was really him. "Oh Force, I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you, too. Soniee, I- I love you."

Tears streamed down her cheeks and fogged up the inside of her helmet's visor. "And I love you."

"Then tell me you'll marry me."

"Yes. Yes, of course. I tried to tell you before. Oh, but Korkie. You must forgive me. There was... there was someone who loved me and I..."

" _Cin vhetin_." It was Korkie's voice but he pronounced the Mando'a words more clearly and confidently than she had ever heard him before.

"What?" she asked.

" _Cin vhetin_. It means..."

"I know what it means." she was smiling through tears. "And you really..."

"We start over right now, a clean slate. I do... have one question though." His doubt was evident in the tone.

"What is it?" she asked warily.

"Your mother said you accepted my proposal almost the moment you arrived on Coruscant but I didn't get the message. I know you would want to honor your word, but... is that why you're choosing me now? I need to know. If you hadn't already said yes to me, if you felt you were free to choose when you met him, would you still..."

She was quiet for a moment and then she answered. "Yes... Yes, with my whole heart, I love you, Korkie, then and now, and always!"

"Then let's not wait another moment." That was the old Korkie. He didn't waste any time once he had put his mind to something. " _Mhi sol_ -"

"Wait! Korkie I want to see you when we recite the vows, not just hear your voice, and," she had a sudden inspiration. "and I want to show you something. I'm about to make a hyperjump. I'm on my way home to you! This jump will be about half an hour. Is there a holotable or something there where we could see each other properly?"

"Yeah umm, here's the ID." he programed it in and she saw it come up on her HUD.

"Okay."

"Soniee, your mother is here in the city. Would you like her to be there when we say our vows, and Lagos and Auntie Bo?"

"Yes. I'd love them to be there."

"Then they will be. Soniee, _Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum_."

"And I hold you in my heart, Korkie."

"Well then, make that hyperjump. I'll be waiting."


	51. Mhi Solus

a wedding finally :)

* * *

Ah the blissful quiet of hyperspace. Soniee hadn't even realized how the consciousness of a trillion beings had been pressing on her mind for the last month. Maybe she and Korkie could just live in hyperspace. Well, no, that wouldn't work because they'd need to stop eventually to refuel, and fuel would cost credits. But she did have a freighter of her very own now. Maybe they could move freight? But that would mean they would have to deal with customers and suppliers. Well, Korkie could do that. He was the orator after all. Yes, that's what they would do. She and Korkie would just travel the galaxy together in her freighter and spend as much time as possible in the quiet of hyperspace.

1K0 interrupted her daydream. "I would hazard a guess that what you would like to show Master Korkie is in the bottom of one of the crates in the hold?"

"Yes!" Soniee grinned. "Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking." Leaving the controls to her precise calculations. She followed the droid down the corridor and back to where her clothes, Satine's clothes, were packed away.

She couldn't remember which crate it was and of course it had to be the last one they opened. The hold was a mess of multicolored fabric when they left it, but they didn't have time now to clean it up. Soniee had found what she was looking for and she would have to hurry, with 1K0's help, to get dressed and ready before they reached realspace.

"Oh," the droid crooned. "I am so glad that the duchess chose to leave to you her wedding gown. I was never able to see her wear it but she surely couldn't have been more beautiful in it than you are now."

Soniee looked at herself in the mirror on the door of the refresher in her cabin and bit her lip. Miracle of all miracles, it fit, and it was lovely, trimmed in lace and delicate beadwork. Although, she wouldn't go so far as to say she looked better in it than the duchess would have. "I'll still need... my hair and..." she grimaced touching again the spot on her neck. "makeup."

"I will take care of everything." 1K0 chirped. "Just sit down and be still."

She tried her best to be still but she was fidgeting too badly for the droid to work. Finally 1K0 grabbed a datapad off the desk. "Here! Take your exam and let me finish!"

Soniee let her mind center on the essay in front of her. She found it remarkably easy, especially after her time in the senate chamber. She didn't realize how much she had learned in her short time as a representative.

"There." 1K0 finished just as Soniee pressed the button to close the document. Now she only had to send it in and baring some crazy mistake that meant her failure on this exam she had as good as graduated. She didn't stop to look in the mirror again. She knew that they would soon be out of hyperspace and she wanted to be in her pilot's chair when the stars condensed back into points of light and she could comm Korkie.

The drop from hyperspace, as always, made her anxious and a little sick, but the system she'd calculated for was quiet and sparsely populated. The irony was not lost on her that she had been born in a freighter shortly after dropping out of warp and now she was about to be married in one.

"Alright, 1K0, can you keep an eye on things while I..."

"Of course, Mistress. Though I hate to miss the ceremony." the droid waddled into the cockpit.

"I'm sure someone will holorecord it so you can see it later." Soniee stepped through the door toward the galley but looked back a second. "Thanks for helping me get ready."

"I am pleased that the task is part of my directive."

Before entering the ID Korkie had given her, Soniee popped out the chip from her data pad and inserted it into the comm unit to turn in. She was proud to have finished her education before her wedding. Then with a deep breath, she placed the most important comm of her life.

She could imagine Korkie pacing. It had taken her longer than the half-hour she had promised him to get ready and he would surely be as nervous as she was. She programmed a one-way projection to begin with so she could keep her image a surprise. When the image appeared from his end however, she was afraid she had gotten the ID wrong. The _Mando'ad_ in the image was in full _beskar'gam_.

"I'm sorry." She went to disconnect the comm but then he removed his helmet and her heart skipped a beat.

"Soniee? It's me." Korkie's hair had grown out just enough that he could pull it back in a small ponytail at the back of his neck and he had neatly trimmed beard. When she had been silent for a few seconds he started to look worried. "Soniee, are you there?"

"Yes," she started breathing again. "Yes, I'm here. I just... I didn't expect... _Mandokarla_!"

He smirked and her heart melted a little more. "Am I going to see what you wanted to show me?"

"In a moment. First, who's there with you?"

He motioned for someone to step forward and into the image walked two more armored men on Korkie's right and left. "I'd like you to meet Fenn Shysa and Spar, they've been training me the last few weeks. That's why I haven't been able to contact you."

The man to Korkie's right, Shysa, removed his buy'ce and gave her a bow. "It's a pleasure to finally meet ye, Lass."

The other man kept his helmet on and gave her a small nod but his voice was eerily familiar. "Ma'am."

"Nice to meet both of you." She answered them.

An older woman stepped into the image then. "Soniee, I'm Gran Viszla." She introduced herself. So this was the designer who was responsible for so many of the clothes she had inherited, including the dress she was wearing now.

"Hello." said Soniee.

Then Bo appeared also. "Hey, Ordo." And finally Momma and Lagos completed the circle. Momma's smile was fiercely proud but her eyes betrayed worry for this big step her daughter was taking. Lagos looked pale and drawn but determined to be a part of the event.

"Well then if that's everyone, I guess I had better..." Soniee finally pressed the button to reveal her own image. She glanced at the others to see their reactions but it was Korkie who's opinion mattered the most to her.

"I never thought I'd see the day..." Gran was saying but Soniee hardly noticed.

Korkie gazed at her in awe.

"Well," she turned in a full circle and then asked him. "Are you glad I made you wait a little longer?"

"Y-you know I think you're beautiful in whatever you wear but..." He swallowed. "Wow!"

Soniee blushed and sighed and they just stood their staring at each other until someone, maybe Bo, said, "Are you going to get on with it already?"

"Of course." Korkie smiled, nodding but then he looked confused.

"Have ye forgotten the words?" Shysa asked with a chuckle.

"No. No I know what to say." Korkie cleared his throat. "Soniee, Mhi solus tome..."

They hadn't discussed beforehand how they would say their vows but she jumped right in with the first line as soon as he had finished it. "Mhi solus tome..."

His face broke into a grin at her eagerness, "Mhi solus dar'tome."

Soniee repeated the second line blinking back happy tears.

And then Lagos swore and ran from the room with her hand pressed over her mouth.

"She's er..." Korkie started to explain.

Soniee nodded, "I know. Let's finish though, alright?"

He smiled and then closed his eyes as if trying to remember where they had left off. "M _hi me'dinui an._ "

" _Mhi me'dinui an_." She promised.

He opened his eyes and looked intently at her. "M _hi ba'juri verde._ "

This was honestly the hardest part for her. She hadn't been lying to Fox when she'd told him that she wasn't ready to be a mother. She'd never been around young children. Soniee was an only, adopted child and she didn't know anything about her own birth parents. She couldn't imagine carrying a baby like Lagos was now. But she swallowed and finished the last line. "M _hi ba'juri verde._ "

And then everyone was cheering and patting Korkie on the back.

"I'm so happy for you, Ad'ika." Momma said through her tears and Soniee knew she meant it even though she felt like she was losing her daughter.

"I love you, Ordo'Buir." She wished she could hug Momma and reassure her that she wasn't losing anything.

And then Bo was shunting them all away from the holotable. "Come on, folks. Let's give the lovebirds some privacy."

"So that's it then," Korkie said breathlessly once they had all gone. "We're married."

Soniee could hardly believe it. "And I can't even hold your hand or give you a hug."

"Yet." He said firmly. "You'll be here soon. And then I'll make it up to you. This last month that we haven't spoken... I'm so sorry, Soniee. But now..." He grinned. "One when we're apart and one when we're together."

"I'm sorry, too." She bit her lip. "For doubting you..."

"Hey." He frowned. "I'm sorry about Lagos running out like that. You knew she was..."

"Yeah, she commed me a few hours ago, but I knew before that. I could sense it, a new life."

"I kind of wish it was us," he admitted.

"Korkie." She sighed. "Let's not... I mean... could we wait a bit? I just don't think I'm ready to..."

He looked disappointed. "I guess we don't have to try but if it happened right off, it would be like a gift from the Force. We could be a real family."

She didn't want to dash his hopes. "W-we'll see, I suppose."

He smiled again. "I really can't wait to see you, to eh... touch you."

A pleasant shiver ran through her and then she frowned again. "Have you thought about where we'll go, where we'll live?"

"I have a room here at the Oyu'baat tonight." He gazed at her intently again. So that's where he was. That made sense. She nodded. "But after that, no I hadn't really thought that far ahead. We could go back to Concord Dawn with your mother if you want or there are some nice places up north where I was training..."

"Or I have my ship." She smiled. "We could just fly around the galaxy together."

"That sounds amazing! Hey Soniee, will you do something for me?" he asked.

"Sure, anything."

"Keep your dress on till you get here." It was hard to tell in the holo image but she thought he might have been blushing.

"You want to see it in person? It was supposed to be your mother's. She- I guess she wanted me to have it. And it really is something. That woman, Gran Viszla, designed it." Soniee rambled but then she stopped when she saw the look he was giving her.

"I just want to be the one to take it off you."

Another shiver of anticipation and desire ran through her. "Alright," she whispered, then she grinned. "And what about all that armor?"

"You like it?" He posed, stroking his chin.

She looked him over appraisingly. "I'm not sure about the beard."

"You don't like it?" He frowned.

"I'll let you know after I find out what it feels like when you kiss me."

Korkie laughed. "I love you, Soniee."

"I love you, too."

"Hurry home."

"I will."

To be continued...

* * *

This is the end of one story and the beginning of another. taking a break for a couple of weeks (probably) to get set for NaNoWriMo and hopefully get my hands on a copy of "Star Wars: Ahsoka" to get some more info on the Siege of Mandalore and doing some research on Onderon and then the next story will pick up right where this one leaves off. Plenty of drama still to be had for the newlyweds!

Hey anybody interested in an alternate ending for this in which Fox gets the girl? I've been playing around with that idea for a few weeks. It would be rated M and probably couldn't end as happily as this one hmmm...

COMMENT PLEASE! thank you everybody who has been reading and commenting! I'd love to chat!


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